What advice do you have on choosing a disaster recovery site/failover facility? How do I know which

What advice do you have on choosing a disaster recovery site/failover facility? How do I know which

What advice do you have on choosing a disaster recovery site/failover facility? How do I know which one is right for my company?

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Contrary to popular practice, finding a good disaster recovery (DR) site/failover facility is not just a matter of name brand and a "pass" on a recent SAS70 audit report. A lot depends on the actual site and the people running it. Many people don't do this, but I highly recommend that anyone considering a facility to actually go and tour the place before signing up for it. If the location is out of state, it will be worth the planning, travel time and expenses. Seeing how things look and are managed at the site can tell you a lot about the company. It also allows you to put faces to names and creates a greater sense of buy-in and accountability.

I once toured the data center my company was using for disaster recovery and it was a mess. I was not impressed, but I was glad I toured the place, because it allowed me to make more informed decisions. Don't let a vendor try to drive your disaster recovery needs either. Based on your business risk tolerance and budget, you should be asking the questions not your vendor. Finally, get references to other companies in your industry and, ideally, find businesses that have previously used the vendor's disaster recovery facilities to see what their experiences were.

This was first published in August 2009