Worldnet Technology Solutions

Convergence Is Cloud Computing

Understanding the Basics of Business Continuity Plans

by

shutterstock_167173277Many businesses understand the need for a disaster recovery (DR) plan. Restoring operations after a disruptive event such as a power outage or a natural disaster is a critical business process required to sustain success. However, DR plans frequently fail to create a comprehensive risk management structure. Gaps leave certain aspects vulnerable after a major business interruption. But businesses can develop heightened protocols by including a business continuity (BC) plan that complements their DR plan, generally referred to as DR/BC.

While DR plans typically address issues related to communication and facilities recovery, BC plans provide more actionable procedures that are designed to sustain revenue-earning activities in the event of a disruption. BC plans provide contingency mitigations for natural disasters as well as problems related to key personnel absences and supply chain issues with vendors or logistics/warehouse providers and other business partners who experience operational difficulties.

Getting Started

Building a comprehensive strategy for BC is much like the process for developing a DR plan. The key is to establish communication as well as backup solutions for physical locations, IT, and human resources. The first step requires conducting a business impact analysis (BIA).

Businesses should identify the systems and resources (including employees) that are critical for generating revenue and the subsequent effects an outage would have on each. For example, an investment company might elect to establish a backup location with complete IT redundancy so that trading could continue immediately in the event of a disruption. A BIA will help establish a restoration sequence that restores operations in order of importance.

Developing a BC Plan

Business continuity plans should cover these critical aspects:

  • contingency personnel plans for executives and the CEO, CIO, and other chief officers;
    emergency training for all staff;
  • off-site emergency management/operations locations that pull power and utilities from an alternate grid source;
  • proper live-action tests to pinpoint weak areas;
  • comprehensive hardware backup that includes data centers (DC), servers, and laptops that store critical information;
  • emergency goods like meals ready to eat (MREs), paper products, and water supplies in case employees are trapped at work; and
  • alternative transportation plans.

A comprehensive DR model that includes BC aspects should outline recovery time objectives for systems and applications, documents, and facilities that will allow the business to continue operations after a disruption.

Utilizing Technology and Risk Assessments

Building BC contingencies is easier with increased virtualization. There are fewer devices to track and a smaller DC footprint so failover capabilities are simplified. Cost feasibility can be determined through the financial portion of the BIA, which allows businesses to make informed implementation decisions for their DR/BC plan.

Record a written form of the BC plan in a secure, redundant data center and ascertain risks in the following areas:

  • information,
  • communication infrastructure,
  • access and authorization,
  • physical operational environment, and
  • internal and external communications.

Many cloud service, telecom, and colocation providers offer evaluations on current DR plans and provide directional measures that help businesses create comprehensive BC supplements. However, the most important factor is preparation. Businesses shouldn’t ignore the need to develop a BC plan; the best time to address emergency tactics is before they are actually needed.

Data Centers: How Colocation Positively Impacts Business Growth

by

shutterstock_188592668Finding applicable methods to control costs and simulate growth are the foundational concepts of entrepreneurial management. While traditional techniques designed to govern personnel and equipment performances are still effective, the modern marketplace demands that IT resources also offer a similar flexibility. Businesses that migrate their data centers to a colocation provider’s facility experience two key advantages: increased scalability and decreased capital expenses.

Scalable Solutions

On-premise data centers suffer from sizing challenges. Companies must determine current capacity requirements and somehow gauge future performance needs, which often leads to miscalculations. Trying to plan data center capabilities for five or ten years in advance will generally result in wasted energy, and by the time greater capacity is required, a business may discover that the technology has become outdated.

Inadequate resources will also generate problems. When a business expands new capital outlays are required to adjust data center performance and functionality, so companies find themselves in a never-ending cycle of buy, integrate, repeat.

However, data centers housed with a colocation provider offer scalable solutions and improved IT performance in a secure, reliable environment for any size enterprise. Flexible pay-as-you-go service agreements allow companies to maintain a base level of volume and permit the inclusion of increased capabilities when required. This option is especially pertinent for companies that experience seasonally high volumes, such as accounting services or retailers.

Lowered Costs

Building and housing a data center on premise is a costly undertaking. Rising cost is one of the reasons that colocation service is becoming so widespread.

Transferring data centers to a colocation provider moves IT capital expenses to operating expenses, with predictable costs each month. Moreover, expenses such as energy use and back-up power generation are offset. Most colocation providers operate on the five nines principle: seamless service 99.999% of the time. This is because their facilities are designed solely for data centers and have controlled environments and multiple layered contingency plans in place. The same level of disaster recovery is much more expensive to create in-house.

Colocation also reduces staffing costs. Many providers include management options in their service agreements so that companies may take advantage of professional reliability without extensive labor expenses. The IT staff is able to operate and deal with a variety of situations as they arise with precision expertise.

Colocation offers today’s businesses real solutions for controlling the costs and scalability of their data centers, making it easy and affordable to support IT solutions that will perpetuate business growth.

Follow Us

We know the way.