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How cloud computing is being
used to ensure the continuity
of operations in midst of
disaster recovery
A SavIor
From Above
It doesn’t matter how well
prepared you think your
business or IT resources are, at
some point you will likely face
an inevitable crisis situation.
Often times disasters and issues
creep up where we least expect
them too. Does this mean that
you should live in constant
fear of an event or anticipate
a breakdown every time you
perform a routine addition
or upgrade? Of course not,
although some individuals and
businesses seem to be better
prepared (and forward thinking) than others.
One of the simplest and most effective methods for
dealing with disaster recovery issues is to explore and
adopt cloud computing. In other words, transition your
business over to cloud computing entirely or elect
to incorporate individual services into your current
IT setup. You might be wondering “What sets cloud
computing apart from traditional IT when it comes
to disaster recovery?”Well, unlike traditional IT, fully
managed cloud computing services are provided
remotely (off-site) by large organizations with very
extensive resources at their disposal. A great number
of major cloud providers also utilize a system whereby
data is cached, copied or spread across multiple clouds
and servers (also called co-location). This is done in
order to facilitate access and data migration, but also
serves the useful purpose of acting as a functional copy
or blueprint backup for your cloud infrastructure.
Cloud computing also allows for routine scheduling
of complete or partial system backups. Or to put it
another way; through cloud computing, you can
schedule daily, weekly, monthly, etc…backups for your
entire IT infrastructure if you like. Some organizations
that receive and process a large amount of data on a
daily basis might even elect to perform more than one
type of cloud backup operation per day.
Why is continuity such a major concern?
Aside from the actual work performed, products
and/or services sold, the most important thing any
business has going for it is its continuity or stability. For
example, a large number of businesses today either
distribute technology or are dependent upon it, if an
organization isn’t available immediately when the
customer / consumer reaches for it, a potential sale is
lost.
Then of course you have office-related situations
where IT isn’t necessarily interacting with customers,
it’s facilitating the daily work that’s being performed
by employees. Downtime for IT in the office means
big losses as there are often tens to hundreds of
A growing
percentage
of businesses
are leveraging
cloud
computing
as a sort of
operational
“safety net”
WilliamManning