Is Your Disaster Recovery Strategy Tuned to Modern Threats?

If your organization’s disaster recovery strategy received a grade, what score would it get? As we referenced in a recent blog (5 Signs a Data Center Modernization Project is in Your Future), a sizable number of businesses might not be happy with their marks. According to the research featured in that post, only 27% of businesses earned a passing disaster readiness grade. What’s causing so many low scores? One theory is that businesses may be readying themselves and their technological environments for the wrong disasters.

Traditional disaster recovery strategies tend to focus on those of the “natural” variety. This includes everything from earthquakes and hurricanes to fires and floods. Even though all businesses should pay attention to “Act of God” risks – with consideration given to the geographic location, of course – those catastrophes are not where the most common, modern threats reside.

Typically, the biggest threat facing an organization’s IT environment is its own people. Human error consistently ranks as the number one cause of technology disasters. Some studies say people are responsible for 60% of issues, while others put it at just under half (47%). Other researchers say it’s a much lower figure (22%). Even in that last study, human error came in as the biggest threat, sharing the top spot with cybercrime. Of course, with things like phishing attacks, those two vectors are really one and the same.

Businesses have entered a new threat landscape, one which necessitates a different approach to IT disaster preparedness and recovery. Fail to make that adjustment and the consequences could be devastating. As the National Cyber Security Alliance found, roughly 60% of SMBs that suffer a cyberattack can expect to go out of business within six months of the incident.

3 keys to building a modern disaster recovery strategy

Recommended disaster preparedness and recovery techniques used to include backing up to tape or having a secondary site stocked with older and slower technology. Instead of sticking to outdated methods, here are three ways to modernize your disaster recovery strategy.

• Consider a move to the cloud. Switching to a cloud-based approach to disaster recovery allows businesses to shed the high cost of maintaining a failback data center. Additionally, the cloud is inherently stretchable, growing easily alongside your organization’s data demands without requiring the support – and expense – of new infrastructure. By retaining the benefits of a physical second data center and stripping away the expense and the management responsibilities, the cloud can transform DR into a true subscription-based operating model.
• Set sights on achieving a 3-2-1 balance. What is a 3-2-1 balance? Essentially, this rule states the best way to prepare for a disaster is to keep three copies of data. Those copies should then be spread across two different platforms. Lastly, one of those copies should exist offsite. Following this approach makes sure your organization’s data will be ready and accessible in the event of a disaster scenario.
• Implement a point-in-time recovery solution. Any modern disaster recovery strategy worth its salt should acknowledge that incidents are going to happen. In the event that they do, consideration must be given to minimizing data loss. Point-in-time recovery solutions have a tremendous edge over tape in their ability to reduce recovery point objectives (RPO). For example, in the event of a ransomware attack, tape can only take you back to the last time you dropped off a backup. Meanwhile, a point-in-time solution can allow your organization to digitally failback to a time just before the corruption occurred, turning a full-blown disaster into a mere hardship.

Next steps: Prepare your IT environment for modern risks

Want to learn more tips and techniques for modernizing your disaster preparedness and recovery capabilities? Arraya Solutions has worked with customers of all sizes and specialties to design and implement disaster recovery strategies custom-built to meet their needs. If you’d like to discuss how our Data Management team can help, visit: https://www.arrayasolutions.com/contact-us/.

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