disaster recovery planning: making the case for “always be testing” (abt)
DESCRIPTION
Download Quorum’s ABT Report: www.quorum.net/abtr Statistics show that most small to mid-sized businesses will experience a system downtime at least once a year. One hour of downtime costs a mid-sized business $74000 on an average1 and it takes 30 hours on average for data disaster recovery2. Yet, most organizations believe that Disaster Recovery (DR) Testing is more trouble than it’s worth. The primary reason is that most small to mid-sized businesses have never run their Disaster Recovery system through regular real world tests. As a result, it is never certain whether their data, servers and applications will recover using an existing solution. The report also points out that testing quarterly or even monthly is not enough. And tape, disk or cloud backup alone is not foolproof. Quorum’s report makes a strong case for “Always Be Testing” on a daily basis. It categorically states that, contrary to popular belief, if a business chooses its Disaster Recovery Solution correctly, even daily real-world tests are not time-consuming, costly, complex or a drain on resources. The report points out that hardware, software and systems are constantly changing for any business. The organization’s data backup/data recovery must take all changes into account and the recovery solution has to be updated to-the-minute. Shortcuts, or traditional testing methods, don’t work. Without Disaster Recovery Testing, a system is vulnerable and likely to be hit by backup corruption [especially for tape-based backups], backups executed incorrectly and human errors. Only a systematic daily Disaster Recovery Testing covers everything. In short, the Quorum report emphasizes that a business must be able to test every day. So it must have the correct Disaster Recovery Solution, with one click recovery and daily testing. Quorum solutions provide assured, one click backup, recovery and continuity through simple and cost-effective solutions that safeguard a company’s revenue, customers and reputation. These solutions reduce downtime to mere minutes with a single click.TRANSCRIPT
Making the Disaster Recovery Planning case for “Always Be Testing” (ABT)Download
Nowwww.quorum.net/abtr
© 2013 QuorumLabs, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
HOW CONFIDENT ARE YOU ABOUT YOUR
SYSTEM TESTING?
CONFIDENT ENOUGH TO ERASE YOUR HARD DISK RIGHT NOW AND
RESTORE FROM YOUR DATA BACKUP?
COLD FEET?
Then it’s time you commit to“Always Be Testing”
?
Why “Always Be Testing”?
© 2013 QuorumLabs, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Hard Facts 1
Most small to mid-sized
businesses experience at
least one system
downtime a year.
One hour of downtime
costs a mid-sized business $74,000 on an average .
1
It takes 30 hours on an average for data disaster
recovery .
2
$
1 Aberdeen Group2 Harris Interactive Survey
© 2013 QuorumLabs, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Hard Facts 2
Disaster Recovery
(DR) is likely to fail
without the right
procedure.
Testing quarterly or
even monthly is
not enough.
Tape, disk or cloud backup
alone is not foolproof.
Systemdowntime isunavoidab
le.
© 2013 QuorumLabs, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Yet, most organizations believe that
Disaster Recovery Testingis more trouble than it’s worth.
DO YOU?
*2011 Survey
Only 28% of small to mid-sized businesses have tested their
backup at all*.Most resort to WORKAROUNDS to save TIME &
COST… …but it really doesn’t!
© 2013 QuorumLabs, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Do you believe that without DR Testingyour data and applications could be
recovered successfully?
Unlikely, if you haven’t chosen your
Disaster Recovery Solution correctly.
© 2013 QuorumLabs, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Choose your Disaster Recovery Solution correctly with
daily real-world tests that are:
Time-consuming
Costly Complex A drain
on resources
NOTAdvantages of DR Testing
• Assured recovery in minutes• Known, successful recovery of applications and systems [not offered by traditional solutions]• No complicated planning & execution
© 2013 QuorumLabs, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Remember, your hardware, software and systems are constantly changing:
• Your data backup/data recovery must take these changes into account. • Your disaster recovery solution has to be updated to-the-minute.• Shortcuts, or traditional testing methods, don’t work.
Without daily DR Testing, your data, serversand applications may be in danger.
For example, overlapping daily & weekly updates from Microsoft Security Essentials, Windows Defender Definitions, SAP Security, Microsoft’s Patch Tuesdays/Extraordinary Patch Tuesdays, Adobe
Flash etc. are altering your system environment constantly.
Constant Change
© 2013 QuorumLabs, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Even the tiniest change in your IT system can
increase the odds of a future glitchin your data recovery.
Ask yourself• Is there a chance that your rebuild from a backup will fail?
• Could incompatibilities of hardware and software prevent a server from booting up?
© 2013 QuorumLabs, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Did you know there are many reasons for failed recoveries?
• Corrupted backup media (disk or tape based).
• Tape drive failure – not writing/reading accurately.
• Missing tape(s) in a series of tapes to restore.
• New replacement of tape drive that can’t read older
tape formats.
• Human error.
Vulnerability
© 2013 QuorumLabs, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Are you sure your existing Disaster Recovery Testing
is safeguarding your company'srevenue and reputation?
© 2013 QuorumLabs, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
In short, you must be able to test every day.So you must have the correct Disaster Recovery
Solution, with one click recovery and daily testing.
Real World ABT Success
Talent recruiting firm 24 Seven, Inc. had just finished testing its hybrid cloud DR solution when Superstorm Sandy hit in October 2012. Thanks to its commitment to ABT, the organization maintained business as usual, without missing a beat. Even though its Manhattan headquarters had to close, operations critical to payroll (24 Seven’s main responsibility) were carried through. The reputation of the company remained intact, thanks to foresight and diligence.
© 2013 QuorumLabs, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
It’s simple: Our solutions work!
And you have peace of mind.
QuorumDisaster Recovery Solutions
AssuredRecovery
One-ClickRecovery
Easy TestingCapabilities
No ‘Ifs’and ‘Buts’
No Fine Print
© 2013 QuorumLabs, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
• Quorum provides assured, one click backup, recovery and continuity.
• Quorum’s simple and cost-effective solutions safeguard your revenue, customers and reputation.
• Quorum Solutions reduce downtime to mere minutes with a single click.
Quorum Disaster Recovery Solutions:COMMITED TO ALWAYS BE TESTING
TRADITIONAL BACKUP ONE-CLICK RECOVERY
BACKUP ONLY
MANUAL RECREATION
ONGOING RESTORE,READY FOR TESTINGAPPLICATION
OS & DRIVERS
MACHINE
Thank YouFREE “Always Be Testing” ReportDownload
Nowwww.quorum.net/abtr
© 2013 QuorumLabs, Inc. All Rights Reserved.