If you have heard of Disaster Recovery as a Service (DRaaS) but you have not yet looked into how it could help your business to avoid the potentially damaging issues associated with downtime, we have the answers. First of all, let’s cover the basics.

DRaaS – what is it, exactly?

In the event of a catastrophic IT event, DRaaS provides a means of returning to usual business operations. This is done by ‘seeding’ a third-party cloud server with a copy of critical data and programs such that they may be accessed when required within a timeframe agreed with your DRaaS provider. This means that email, important client documents, and online applications, for example, may be accessed through the cloud as a temporary means of business continuity while a remedy to the in-house problem can be sought and applied. For further detailed information about this service, check out DRaaS from Probrand.

Why Your SLA Is Vital?

Your Service Level Agreement (SLA) is your contract with the third party DRaaS provider. This important document serves to outline the agreed timeframes within which you can expect to be granted access to your chosen saved data and programs. For example, depending upon the nature of your business and how it interacts with clients, your SLA may focus on a regaining full access to email and client files as a priority. Other businesses may choose to focus on restoring online applications as a priority. Your DRaaS provider should be able to talk you through the implications of the options outlined in the SLA so that you benefit from a best-fit agreement that is acceptable to both parties.

Getting to Grips with the Benefits of DRaaS

If your business is a start-up with relatively little day-to-day contact with only a handful of clients, a robust DRaaS agreement may be ‘overkill’ for your needs. Such an agreement would also likely be unsuited to your budget. However, the low-level priority for a return to business operations could be outlined in your SLA, meaning you would not need to source an alternative means of IT support in the event of an in-house IT catastrophic event. If you are unsure, speak to your DRaaS provider to see how they can help.

Benefits of DRaaS include:

• Reduced overheads. No matter the size of your company, you are going to need IT support. In the case of medium to large sized companies, this typically means employing an in-house team of IT technicians. A DraaS agreement not only removes the cost of employing permanent on-site IT professionals but also reduces the associated costs of IT infrastructure and the potential additional office space required to house the equipment/staff.
• The amount of downtime you can expect to face becomes a certainty around which plans can be made. Where a DRaaS agreement is not in place, a return to normal business operations is reliant on the business owner finding a solution. This uncertainty is removed by the agreements put in place with the DRaaS provider – access to critical data and programs is guaranteed within an agreed timeframe.

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