There have been significant advancements in technology in the recent past. Due to these advancements, it is easy to think that technology is infallible. But, past incidents have proved this perception to be wrong. Systems can crash, get hacked, or get destroyed.
Business owners may think that disasters that befall other businesses cannot befall them. With such thinking, a business owner will not need to implement a disaster recovery plan.
A single disaster, whether natural or artificial, may cause the whole business to crumble. To avoid such a situation, companies should consider Disaster Recovery as a Service (DRaaS). Keep reading to understand DRaaS better and why a business should consider it.
Explaining Disaster Recovery as a Service (DRaaS)
Disaster Recovery as a Service (DRaaS) means exactly what it suggests. It is a service where a third party replicates and remotely hosts a business’s data and applications. A third party can provide a business with a complete backup in a disaster.
So, the main goal of DRaaS is to provide failover in case a catastrophe strikes. Examples of catastrophes are office fires, floods, and power outages.
Disasters aren’t always natural, and a cyberattack can also be a disaster. Such an attack can cripple a business for days. Cyberattacks are not just a problem for huge companies.
Research shows that 43% of cyberattacks are usually targeted at small businesses. But, only 14% of businesses are normally prepared for attacks.
Businesses don’t need to have their external servers with DRaaS. The provider hosts files, data, and server information offsite. They will then handle recovery following a catastrophe. Doing so allows business owners to focus on restoring operations after a disaster.
There are three kinds of DRaas that business owners can choose. They include
- Self-service DRaaS
- Assisted DRaaS
- Managed DRaaS
Why Consider DRaaS
There are many reasons why a business should consider DRaaS. Here are some of them.
Reduce Costs
A company will face high costs if it chooses to facilitate its disaster recovery. The business owner will have to buy software licenses and buy or lease hardware. Some hardware they would need includes servers and networking equipment.
The business owner would also have to run the cost of renting a facility to serve as a data center. The facility would accumulate maintenance costs. These costs would come from equipment cooling, internet access, and power supply.
There would also be an extra cost for employee salaries and travel costs to reach the facility. Many business owners would find these costs too high for only a few applications. With DRaaS, the provider will shoulder all the costs.
Enjoy Data Security
DRaaS helps secure business data by having it backed up and stored in an offsite data center. So, the data is safe from unforeseen loss and unwarranted access. Service providers use high-level security protocols to safeguard data. It is difficult for businesses to achieve the same security level in their disaster recovery sites.
Work With Experts
Selecting DRaaS gives businesses access to experts in disaster recovery. Experts can guide data safety, backups, and disaster recovery in general.
Also, IT experts can help find solutions if there is a problem. External IT experts make it unnecessary for in-house IT specialists to be experts in disaster recovery. The service provider can handle everything in the disaster recovery plan.
Final Words
Disaster recovery is difficult and expensive for a business to do independently. For example, developing a disaster recovery plan and failover testing are challenging. With DRaaS, providers will handle it all.
DRaaS allows for business continuity. All businesses, even those with a limited budget, can enjoy the benefits of DRaaS.
