The prospect of IT system failure can be daunting – especially for small and medium businesses with tight budgets. So, the prospect of planning for a disaster and deploying a data recovery solution can be overwhelming.
For that reason, many small and medium businesses rely on MSPs to support their IT infrastructure needs.  Instead of learning a new set of skills, business leaders work with a skilled and knowledgeable MSP to manage their technology needs. The MSP helps build a business continuity plan and select a solution package based on each client’s unique needs.
For the uninitiated business owner, IT solution research can be time consuming. Working with an MSP virtually eliminates that burden. The MSP will select a robust solution suitable for backing-up, replicating, and storing IT workloads from a variety of infrastructure models (eg. On-premise, cloud-based or hybrid). The business client need only verify the solution meets their needs. That means the client does much less work than they would if working independently.
IT System Outages: The Impacts of Data Recovery on Productivity
In today’s ‘always on’ business environment, an IT disaster can cause irreparable damage to a business. An IT system outage can result in loss of revenue, if not result in the death of the business itself. More than 40% of businesses never open after a disaster that entails major data loss. That’s partly because the business can’t get back up and running in to time meet customer needs. Digital-oriented customers expect to reach a business and do transactions any place, any time.
Outages can impact not just revenues and customer conversion, but also productivity. Remote employees and after-hours support expectations mean employees require around the clock access. If a network or data is unavailable, productivity comes to a standstill.
With an MSP on ‘staff’, business leaders can continue to focus on operations and revenue generation. The MSP manages the data storage, backup and recovery – should the need arise.
MSPs: Keeping Critical Data Safe
In order for MSPs to support a range of clients, they rely on solutions that support the backup and replication of data across an array of sectors and industries. Not to mention the varying IT infrastructures: from cloud-based, to on-premise to hybrid storage solutions.
MSPs typically work with a solution that allows for the management of multiple clients from a single interface. The solutions will offer scalable service, flexibility for growing data sets, and the option for customization to meet specific needs. This flexibility and customization also ensures that clients pay for only what they need.
Each business will have its own Recovery Point Objectives (RPO) and Recovery Time Objectives (RTO), which the MSP will ensure any Disaster Recovery tool will respect. The disaster recovery solution chosen by the MSP will also reflect the need to individualize user privileges, and allocate IT infrastructures based on individual goals and needs.
MSPs look for solutions that protect a variety of infrastructures. This includes:
- Cloud backup from on-premise or hosted environments
- DRaaS backup from on-premise or hosted environments
- Infrastructure as a service in a secondary cloud site
- SaaS in a secondary cloud site
- Cross-cloud replication and migration
The DRaaS Solution Preferred by MSPs
HostedBizz partner Veeam offers a valuable tool preferred by many MSPs. In a competitive DRaaS market, Veeam offers a tool that allows MSPs to build their customized tool. The tool allows MSPs to meet client needs by offering:
- Competitive pricing: Focus on a flexible product with competitive pricing. Customization is key when designing a DRaaS solution, but can’t be so costly that it overshadows the value of working with an MSP.
- User experience: A customized user interface determined by the client’s needs and objectives.
- Backup scheduling: Workloads scheduled for duplication on a regular basis, based on client preferences or requirements.
- Backup replication and recovery: Backups can be spun-up in the location of the client’s choosing, replicating the systems that failed.
- Networking technology: Enables swift transfer of data for replication and storage.
- Recovery Point Objectives/Recovery Time Objectives: Replicas spun up to respect RPOs and RTs, replicating apps, infrastructure and data to ensure prompt return to business.
- Data migration: Move data from on-premise or hybrid storage to the cloud in a consumable format.
MSPs and Data Recovery: Letting Business Owners Sleep at Night
No business can afford IT infrastructure failure. Instead of struggling with the concepts of business continuity planning and disaster recovery, many businesses chose to work with MSPs. These MSPs bring the knowledge and skills to an operation that eases the burden of increasing data volumes and the risks of data loss.
HostedBizz works with MSPs so that they can offer customizable cloud solutions, including DRaaS options. Curious about working with an MSP near you? Get in touch! We can help match you with a local MSP capable of meeting your business needs.