Disaster recovery outsourcing can be a good choice for companies that don't have the capital or in house expertise necessary for disaster recovery planning. The editors of SearchDisasterRecovery.com
Requires Free Membership to View
have compiled this list of five
tips that will help you determine whether you should outsource your business’s disaster recovery.
You’ll find out how to get started, whether disaster recovery in the cloud is right for your
organization, when it makes sense to keep disaster recovery in-house, how you can audit your
disaster recovery program, and how to choose the right vendor.
Tip #1
Getting started with disaster recovery outsourcing
As you begin to develop (or improve) your disaster recovery plan, the first step is to find another data center that will be up and running when an incident takes place. If you decide to outsource disaster recovery, whatever vendor you select when outsourcing your disaster recovery efforts should have a similar operating system (mainframe, client server, etc.). What will you need in terms of location, technology, and availability, and how much will it all cost? This tip will tell you all you need to know about being prepared for disaster recovery outsourcing.
Tip #2
Disaster recovery in the cloud explained
As cloud computing takes root in the IT universe, it’s difficult to separate fact from fiction, and hype from reality. This tip looks at the biggest disaster recovery issues, such as security and data recovery, and also helps you decide whether disaster recovery in the cloud is right for your organization.
Tip #3
For SMBs, cloud disaster recovery may be best choice for disaster recovery storage
In our podcast with Pierre Dorion, senior consultant with Long View Systems Inc., Dorion will help you understand the best practices for disaster recovery storage, whether tape backup is still a realistic option, what it takes to make remote replication effective, as well as the pros and cons of cloud DR.
Tip #4
How ISO 24762 affects outsourced disaster recovery services
ISO 24762 is an industry standard for hot site firms, cold site firms, managed services firms, and other third-party providers of IT disaster recovery services. It covers issues such as building construction, security measures, provision of infrastructure services such as power, water and telecommunications, and environmental controls. This tip looks at how you can audit your company’s disaster recovery program and what disaster recovery providers must offer to ensure your recovery site is secure.
Tip #5
What to look for in IT disaster recovery services
Once you’ve decided to outsource your disaster recovery planning, the next step is choosing the right vendor. It’s not an easy process, but David Chapa, a senior analyst with Enterprise Strategy Group, offers some advice to help you evaluate IT disaster recovery service providers. Chapa explains what technology a DR provider should have, why you would want to outsource disaster recovery, what a service provider contract should look like, and the issues you must resolve before agreeing to work together.
This was first published in December 2011