This report is based on a research study based on 160 interviews with small and medium businesses across the United Kingdom, France and Germany
The research findings provide some important insights including:
- Most SMBs take measures to permit systems recovery following a major operational incident, however significant disaster recovery (DR) gaps and shortfalls often exist.
- DR initiatives often fail to compete effectively for attention, time and funding as the value of DR related investments often only becomes clear when things go wrong.
- The trick is to take a fresh view, bearing in mind the broader dynamics
As IT is relied on more extensively within the business, the potential risk clearly escalates, but so too do the cost and overhead of managing DR effectively through incremental manual approaches. Using a combination of thoughtful leverage of IT related developments in areas such as distributed operations and virtualisation, however, a lot can be achieved with minimal additional investment that can reduce both cost and risk.
- Costs and risks can be further reduced through more advanced automation solutions
- Focusing on key enablers will enhance the returns from any DR improvement initiative
The research highlights 7 key enablers of effective IT DR, which are outlined in this report and should not be beyond the reach of any SMB IT department. It is therefore recommended that those looking to drive improvements take note of what has worked for others and learn from their peers.