Business Continuity and the Cloud

Cloud computing -- or SaaS -- is a very much talked about today. Some of the talk is about its benefits (scalability, reliability, accessibility, etc.) but some of the talk is about its drawbacks (complexity, cost, security, etc.). Whatever your point of view, it seems that the cloud is here to stay, so we all should be considering how and if we can use it effectively and strategically to achieve our disaster recovery and business continuity goals. This week's articles could prove helpful toward making that decision.

As the cloud matures and continues to provide cost-efficient and scalable methods of computing for infrastructure, applications, and data, it's likely to become an increasingly popular option for enterprise disaster recovery. (Item #1)     Clouds are here to stay and an increasingly important aspect of how organizations achieve their goals with technology. (Item #2)     There are specific cloud technologies that have become driving factors for better business IT redundancy. (Item #3)    

Why is the cloud such a powerful choice for companies' BC and DR requirements? (Item #4)     The jury is still out on whether using cloud-based services increases or decreases the likelihood of business interruptions. (Item #5)     What information do you need to obtain from your cloud provider when it comes to the protection of business-critical data? (Item #6)    

As always, I look forward to hearing about your concerns with regard to business continuity. If there are any topics that you'd like to see covered, email me at [email protected].

Bob Mellinger, President
Attainium Corp

1. Take Business Continuity to the Cloud

Planning for business continuity and disaster recovery often takes a back seat to the day-to-day challenges of managing IT for an enterprise. But failure to prepare adequately for technological or natural disasters that disrupt the business could lead to financial disaster.
http://www.cio.com/article/2871275/business-continuity/take-business-continuity-to-the-cloud.html

2. What You Need to Know: Cloud Computing and Business Continuity

Cloud computing is potentially the most important technology development of this decade, so business continuity professionals should rightly be asking: "What does it really mean and how does it affect me?" This perspective is designed to address common questions about cloud computing.
http://perspectives.avalution.com/2015/what-you-need-to-know-cloud-computing-and-business-continuity/

3. Combining Cloud with Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity

It's important to understand that disaster recovery and business continuity are two different business objectives. However, they can certainly overlap. Even today there is still some confusion about what the cloud can really deliver. Not so much how the cloud works, but more around DR capabilities. Folks, whether you're a small shop or a large enterprise, if you have haven't looked at the cloud as a DR or business continuity option, it's time that you do.
http://www.datacenterknowledge.com/archives/2014/10/20/combining-cloud-disaster-recovery-business-continuity/

4. For cloud-based business continuity and disaster recovery, expertise matters

Disruptions and outages can wreak serious damage not only on a company's operations, but also its reputation. If severe enough, the firm may not ever fully recover in the wake of a major disaster. Increasingly, and with good reason, companies are turning to the cloud for their BC and DR needs. However, it is critical for business leaders to recognize that not every cloud service is equally effective in this capacity. To truly maximize their results in this area, firms need to choose managed service providers that can demonstrate a high degree of BC and DR expertise.
https://www.datapipe.com/blog/2015/03/25/for-cloud-based-business-continuity-and-disaster-recovery-expertise-matters/

5. Cloud-based services require stalwart business continuity plans

Cloud-based services are attractive to companies on many different levels, but there are some security issues to take into consideration before signing up. Developing a business continuity plan prior to signing a cloud contract can help ensure the security of your organization.
http://www.computerweekly.com/tip/Cloud-based-services-require-stalwart-business-continuity-plans

6. Question everything: considerations to raise with your cloud service provider

The cloud has well and truly arrived. It's scalable, flexible, cost-effective and offers the huge convenience of not having physical on-site hardware to maintain. However, while these benefits certainly are compelling, these are the only considerations to take into account when undergoing a cloud project. Companies need to do their homework and think about the scale and type of information that will reside within a cloud provider's infrastructure and give weight to the security of that data.
http://www.continuitycentral.com/feature1198.html