Managed Backup and Disaster Recovery vs. Backup Software

Managed Backup and Disaster Recovery vs. Backup Software

The terms backup and disaster recovery go hand in hand, but the truth is that backups are only one component of a comprehensive disaster recovery plan. When a company backs up its files, too often the belief is that employees can simply access those files, copy them back to their desktops, and be ready to get back to business.

Unfortunately, this simply isn't the case. And given how reliant most businesses are on their technology infrastructures, a much more thorough approach is required in order to truly recover quickly and completely from a system-wide meltdown.

Full-scale backup and disaster recovery solutions are vastly different than the purchased backup software small and mid-size companies often utilize. There are several problems with relying solely on backup software as a full-scale disaster recovery strategy:

1. Backup software is only as good as those installing it:

If you purchase backup software tailored to businesses, you may think this offers adequate protection. After all, this kind of software is marketed to enterprise-level companies, so it must be able to function as your total backup and disaster recovery solution.

Unfortunately, backup software is highly complex and has many different components, each one tailored to a different application. Buying the wrong or inadequate software or install incorrectly essentially means you spent a whole lot of money for a product that doesn't do what you thought it would: get your business completely back online with minimal downtime. Outsourced IT companies can create a customized backup solution that ensures your entire IT infrastructure is fully restorable.

2. It's not one-size-fits-all:

While backup and disaster recovery software may backup critical files and documents, they often don't account for all data sources, such as all types of software and application data, server and system configurations, and email clients. So, companies attempting to get back up and running after a system failure may need to spend a great deal of valuable time on installations and reconfigurations.

An outsourced IT company offering a managed backup and disaster recovery solution should assess your entire IT infrastructure and ensure that each and every component is completely and regularly backed up.

3. Lack of testing

Even if you do correctly purchase and install the software required to back up all data and recover quickly, there's no guarantee that the backup will work as planned when disaster strikes. This is where the 'managed' in managed backup and disaster recovery solution becomes critical. BDR services must be regularly tested to ensure they are working properly. The worst time to test your backup solution and find out its not correctly configured or even working at all is when disaster has already struck! It's also not the time to pull out the software manual and learn, for the first time, how to do a system or server restore!

Downtime costs businesses a tremendous amount of money. In fact, the average outage costs a company approximately $50,000, with larger corporations losing up to $5 million. A cloud-based managed backup solution creates a seamless auto failover of your network to mirrored client cloud network, allowing your company to continue business as usual without missing a beat. Because cloud computing options are virtual, your network can be accessed from anywhere.

4.Disaster planning:

Another thing not offered by off-the-shelf backup software? Disaster recovery planning and education. An outsourced IT company offering managed backup and disaster recovery solutions is ideally positioned to provide you with training and education regarding the various types of disasters your company might face and how employees and management should respond if the worst happens.

Not only this, an IT company can also educate you on simple ways you can reduce the chances of disaster in the first place (such as employing smart security and system maintenance strategies that can safeguard your company data).

Conclusion

While the terms may be used interchangeably, it's important to remember that backup is just one part of a full-scale disaster recovery strategy. This is a complex process that your business depends on for its survival. Worried your backup software isn't up to snuff? ICS offers fully managed, monitored, and maintained backup and disaster recovery solutions that are custom-designed and administered by our team of IT experts. Give us a call today for a free assessment of your company's critical IT needs.