Disaster recovery in the hyper-modern era

Modern enterprises have started to hire certain services from trusted third parties, rather than taking on the tasks in-house. These “as-a-service” business models have really changed the business landscape in the hyper-modern era. One such service is disaster recovery for business data.

The cloud is now a major component of any successful business’s IT architecture and it’s revolutionising digital service offerings. Managed service providers, such as SEACOM Business, can now offer complex cloud-based IT services. These include secure storage of critical data on the cloud, along with automatic backup and item-level disaster recovery.

Disaster recovery is an intricate service that can save an enterprise millions of dollars if it’s needed in times of crisis. If a business loses its files, information, customer details and financial records, then the outcome often puts companies in difficult positions.

Secure storage and complete recovery of files from cloud-based servers is an absolute necessity, so considering a managed service provider often removes the headaches around the maintenance and oversight of these services. At the end of the day, businesses prefer it if their IT resources can focus on strategic initiatives that add value to the business and the customers they serve, as opposed to scripting disaster recovery measures themselves.

What is disaster recovery?

As the name suggests, disaster recovery is the ability to completely restore business records, information, applications and data in the event of a cyber attack, natural phenomenon or server outage. Cloud-based storage and backup is a modern service that can transform the way in which businesses handle their data and records, and enables organisations to create redundancy.

When it comes to data recovery, a managed service provider will be able to support a business in its strategic objectives. This not only frees up time for the enterprise to focus on its core tasks but also offers a cost-effective and reliable solution for digital storage and recovery in the event of any disaster.

Disaster recovery aligns with business continuity, allowing a company to continue to function with minimal disruptions to productivity. Information can be retrieved and restored in a matter of hours or days, which is a far better outcome than the complete loss of data, closure of the company or, in extreme cases, legal action.

Data recovery in the hyper-modern era

In the pre-cloud business environment, disaster recovery services revolved around secondary servers that mirrored the company’s data centre. The entire IT architecture had to be replicated on the recovery site so that the business could switch over to the backup server in the event of a catastrophic event.

This was extremely costly to set up and maintain, not to mention very time-consuming for the company’s IT department. It required regular testing and updates to ensure that the recovery site was up-to-date and functioning properly. This consumed resources and was not always a successful endeavour.

Nowadays, cloud-based backup and storage services are far easier to set up, maintain and oversee. Large companies are opting for third-party service providers as they offer round-the-clock support and automated maintenance of the storage system. This allows the company’s IT department to focus on other objectives and in-house services for employees.

SEACOM Business undertakes granular investigation of a company’s IT infrastructure and digital systems in order to understand how they work together and what dependencies are involved across the entire business. This allows us to completely understand the enterprise’s requirements and processes before setting up the online backup and recovery system.

Why else is disaster recovery necessary?

Besides the obvious reasons of data recovery and business functioning, some enterprises may be bound by the law to implement secure storage and recovery systems. The South Africa Protection of Personal Information (POPI) Act stipulates that customer information must be stored on a secure server to prevent it from being leaked, hacked or lost.

A failure to follow these regulations could possibly result in a R10-million fine or a 10-year jail sentence in the most extreme cases. Large enterprises, such as financial institutions, medical facilities and telecommunication providers should protect their customers’ personal data and invest in cyber security systems for their storage infrastructure, whether it’s cloud-based or on-site.

Disaster recovery should be implemented by all large companies, even those that do not necessarily fall under the scope of the POPI Act. SEACOM Business has years of experience in the IT industry and we have partnered with leading security providers to ensure that business data is securely stored. For more information or to get a quote for our backup and recovery services, email us at marketing@seacom.com or leave us a message.

SEACOM owns Africa’s most extensive network of information and communications technology (ICT) infrastructure, including subsea cables and secure internet connections. We offer a diverse range of flexible, scalable and high-quality solutions for businesses that meet world-class standards for connectivity.

SEACOM is privately owned and operated, making it agile and adaptable to the needs of the customer. This makes us the preferred ICT and internet connectivity partner for African businesses and peripheral service providers. We can guarantee high-speed, low-latency and secure internet connections to corporates and small enterprises.

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