For modern businesses, the question is not if you will experience an emergency, but when. Cyber-attacks are more common than ever, and they are far from the only threat that could put your operations on-hold. Preventing an incident is only half of the business continuity equation. The other half is how you respond when one occurs anyway.
Traditionally, disaster recovery relied on on-premises solutions (such as a backup hard drive or server). But as IT infrastructure becomes more complex, this is no longer enough. These older strategies don’t account for the increasing complexity and vulnerability of business’ digital environments.
There is another approach that works better: cloud backup and disaster recovery.
Defining Cloud Backup and Disaster Recovery
Cloud backup and disaster recovery, as the name suggests, involves shifting business continuity planning away from on-premises infrastructure and towards cloud solutions. For example, instead of using a secondary hard drive, all critical data is backed up to the cloud. As these platforms continue to advance, and additional services are introduced, it becomes possible to maintain more and more of your business operations in this manner.
Why Handle Backup and Disaster Recovery in a Cloud Environment?
It’s time to face the facts: on-premises backup and disaster recovery cannot sufficiently meet your needs anymore. These systems are outdated, difficult to implement, and prone to failure. Consider data backups. Most businesses have, on at least one occasion, backed their data up to a secondary device and then immediately forgotten about it. By the time that information later became necessary, it was several months (or even years) out-of-date.
Backup and disaster recovery in a cloud environment solves most of the challenges that businesses face:
- Updates: Cloud storage is automatically backed up each time you make a change. This drastically minimises data loss after an incident.
- Accuracy: On-premises solutions are heavily reliant on your employees. One error, however understandable, could undermine your entire disaster recovery plan. The cloud removes much of the risk associated with human error by reducing the amount of manual labour involved.
- Redundancy: When used in addition to on-premises solutions, the cloud offers near-limitless redundancy. You can keep as many copies of data and workflows as your budget allows, held on servers across the world.
- Security: On-premises backup and recovery solutions are often unsecured and vulnerable. The cloud can be easily disconnected from your IT infrastructure during an attack, by simply turning off the internet. This, along with the service provider’s own security measures, makes it more difficult to compromise.
- Flexibility: Cloud services can be scaled up or down at any time, to meet your precise needs. This additional flexibility makes it significantly easier to invest in additional storage or more disaster recovery options at a moment’s notice.
- Affordability: Cloud-based backup and disaster recovery requires far less capital expenditure, due to the subscription model these services typically use. These financial resources can therefore be used for more important things, improving your long-term profitability.
Building Your Cloud Backup and Disaster Recovery Strategy
1. Identify Critical Data and Systems
Step one is understanding what needs to be protected to ensure continuity. Identify your most crucial data, workflows, and processes, then determine how likely they are to be affected by an incident. This allows you to prioritise your strategy based on which pieces of the IT infrastructure are most important for daily operations.
2. Choose the Right Cloud Platforms
Now, you must select cloud services that suit your needs. You may need data storage, productivity suites, or even virtual machines. Look for cost-effective solutions that offer automation, security measures, and 24/7 support.
3. Establish RTO and RPO
Define your recovery time objective (RTO) and recovery point objective (RPO). These two important metrics govern disaster response, and will help you determine the success of your plan. The former indicates how quickly you must return to normal operations, and the latter outlines how much data you can afford to lose (typically measured in hours).
4. Develop a Plan
Working with all important personnel (e.g. employees, leadership, and the IT team), create a disaster recovery plan. Explain:
- Who is responsible for each task
- Which operations will be shifted to the cloud
- Which normal daily tasks are non-negotiable and must be preserved
- How cloud environments will be protected from any potential threats
- When systems must be back online by, and how this will be achieved
- When and how data will be restored from backups
- When and through which channels communication with third parties (such as affected customers) will occur
5. Train and Test
Teach all relevant employees how the plan will work, and test it repeatedly in a safe environment. It is one thing to write a disaster recovery strategy, and another entirely to carry it out. You will want to catch any problems as quickly as possible, so they can be resolved before they impact your business.
FAQs
What’s the Difference Between Backup and Disaster Recovery?
Backup and disaster recovery are two different but connected concepts. The former specifically refers to copies of your information that are stored for later use, while the latter is a more general strategy outlining how your business will heal from emergencies.
Is Cloud Backup Secure?
Cloud backups are perfectly safe, as long as you prioritise security. While your provider will act to prevent breaches on their end, you must also implement strong defensive measures. One benefit of cloud-based backup and recovery is that it connects to your business via the internet. Turning it off disconnects the cloud from your IT infrastructure, which can be useful for keeping threats away from your backups.
How Often Should I Backup Data?
You should backup data according to your previously identified RPO. Cloud solutions make this less of a concern, as most services will automate backups. All you need to do is check that they worked.
What if I Don’t Have the Resources to Handle Migration?
Many smaller businesses lack the in-house expertise necessary to manage their cloud services either during migration or in the long run. In these situations, it’s advisable to partner with a managed service provider (MSP) who specialises in cloud computing. They can take care of these matters for you, removing the burden from your shoulders entirely.
Is Google Cloud Backup and Disaster Recovery Worthwhile?
Google Cloud can be an excellent starting point for backup and disaster recovery. The exact solutions you need will depend on individual factors such as your size, industry, the risks you face, and the type of workflows/amount of data you must preserve. You should always do some research and make an informed choice based on your own needs.
Don’t Wait for the Wake-Up Call. Prepare Now.
Business continuity feels unimportant when operations are running smoothly. But when they’re not, it’s too late to start taking things seriously. The only way to protect your business’ future is by planning for the worst-case scenario now. Cloud-based backup and recovery provides you with an easy, cost-effective way to preserve critical data and workflows. On a normal workday, you may not even notice these services are there. During an emergency, they could be the only thing keeping your company afloat.
Too many businesses forget to consider their IT during business continuity planning, and it costs them. Think about it: how many of your daily operations could continue as normal without technology? If the answer is “Not many”, discover the important role that IT plays in your business continuity plan.