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September 15, 2006
• Vol.28 Issue 37
Page(s) 1 in print issue
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Choosing A Disaster Recovery Provider
Tips From Experts In The DR Field
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The American Heritage Dictionary defines a disaster as “an occurrence causing widespread destruction and distress; a catastrophe” such as a flood, fire, or act of Mother Nature. TAMP Computer Systems (www.tampsystems.com), a DR (disaster recovery) planning/consulting, software, and client service firm defines it as “Any event that causes inaccessibility or inoperability to your technology, business functions, or facility.” For the purpose of this article, that definition is right on target.
 How The Industry Defines Disasters
Tom Abruzzo, president and CEO of TAMP Computer Systems, says if you ask 10 people to define a disaster, you’ll get 10 different answers. For example, most people think of a disaster as an event such as a flood, tornado, terrorist attack, etc. “Our industry research shows that there are, actually, over 200 events that can cause a disaster,” says Abruzzo. “Rather than planning for disaster events, we plan for the result of an event as it relates to time. For example, if a disaster event causes inaccessibility to your facility or inoperability of your technology for a specific or an approximate timeframe, that’s considered a disaster.”
NAAT (North American Access Technologies) has identified eight types of disaster scenarios: natural, human, environmental, localized, area-wide, short-term, long-term, and permanent. “We specialize in the consulting support and planning to optimize our clients’ disaster recovery and, more importantly, disaster avoidance. By properly preparing for most foreseeable incidents, we believe that most DR effects can be mitigated so the organization can continue to function during a crisis.”
Hot, Warm, Or Cool?
Currently, data storage is available in three flavors: hot sites, warm sites, and cool sites. Hot sites, which cost the big bucks, house your data in two separate locations: one is the “operational” location, and the other is the mirrored/redundant backup site, which is operated in real time so companies can literally switch over to the other site in seconds.
Warm sites are the same arrangement, but the data isn’t real time; that is, it’s not backed up as often. And cool sites include all the “offsite facilities” such as the service bureaus, managed recovery facilities, shared-resource facilities, and the mobile recovery units. Data is backed up onsite and delivered to an alternate location, backed up to a server across the Internet, or transferred to a point-to-point location via the Internet or other communication lines.
Experts Offer Tips
We asked the pros to tell us how to choose a DR provider. First and foremost, they said to look for a DR provider that can offer you multiple choices for data recovery solutions to meet your needs. “The best companies offer various service levels including in-lab data recovery, remote data recovery, onsite service, and even do-it-yourself software. A provider that offers only ‘one solution’ will not be your best option,” says Mike Hayes at Ontrack Data Recovery (www.ontrack.com).
The people at SunGard Availability Services (www.availability.sungard.com) concur that companies should absolutely choose a provider with global reach and disparate, redundant, and hardened state-of-the-art facilities. SunGard’s staff agrees with Hayes that a “complete suite of information availability solutions” is an essential consideration when selecting a provider. They also insist that a reputable DR provider lets you retain access and control of your data and supports a wide range of computing platforms from legacy and midrange to Intel-based systems.
“Make sure your DR provider has a proven track record in creating disaster recovery plans, aiding companies in testing them, and completing successful recoveries,” adds Beth Harte, senior manager of marketing communications at SunGard. “Unlike the traditional outsourcing solutions offered by other DR providers, SunGard lets its customers retain control of their systems and data when it’s hosted at a SunGard facility.”
Another important tip, offered by Ellis Ishaya, vice president of professional services at EVault (www.evault.com), is about data encryption. “The great thing about EVault’s service is its high level of encryption,” says Ishaya, “from your computer to the vault and back again. The data is encrypted once it leaves your computer, while in transit over the Internet, and when resting on EVault’s vaults, and only the customer knows the encryption key.”
In order to accomplish disaster recovery and business continuity planning, you must identify and document your recovery resources, says TAMP’s Abruzzo. Define the scope of what you are trying to recover from a disaster, define your RTO (recovery timeframe objective), choose and implement a recovery strategy that achieves your RTO, and then document your recovery plan, Abruzzo says.
Ontrack’s Hayes adds that shoppers should choose a company that continually invests in R&D, so the technology is always state of the art. He also notes that the target DR provider must be available 24/7/365, without fail. “We are the only data recovery company in the industry to offer the full spectrum of recovery solutions,” says Hayes. “We have an in-lab, a clean room, remote data recovery, onsite data recovery, and do-it-yourself data recovery software. There are hundreds of data recovery companies out there; make sure you choose a winner!”
And last of all, Hayes says, be sure to read the fine print on your contract. Make sure you know all the costs up front, so it doesn’t bankrupt your company just to get your company back up and running. 
by Julie Sartain
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10 Tips At A Glance
1. Be sure your DR (disaster recovery) provider can offer you multiple choices for data recovery solutions to meet your needs.
2. Choose a provider with global reach and disparate, redundant, and hardened state-of-the-art facilities.
3. Choose a provider that allows you to retain access and control of your data.
4. Choose a provider that supports a wide range of computing platforms from legacy and midrange to Intel-based systems.
5. Make sure your provider has a proven track record in its field.
6. Be certain that your data is protected by a high level of encryption while in transit over the Internet and while resting on your provider’s servers and that your company has the only encryption key.
7. Always identify and document your recovery resources.
8. Make sure your DR provider invests in research and development regularly.
9. Check to be sure the provider is available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
10. Make sure there are no hidden fees; know all the costs up front. |
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