Companies are at risk when they cannot recover quickly from an unexpected system interruption. Disaster recovery (DR) is a critical component of security planning focused on ensuring business continuity through disasters such as power outages, natural disasters, or cyber-attacks. Disaster recovery enables an organization to quickly resume mission-critical functions following a significant negative event.
According to a 2015 report from the IT Disaster Recovery Preparedness (DRP) Council, one hour of downtime can cost small companies up to $8,000, midsize companies up to $74,000, and large enterprises up to $700,000. Even more concerning is that 91% of respondents in a separate DR report experienced an unplanned power outage that negatively impacted their data center over the past 24 months. Disasters are a common occurrence, and without a disaster recovery plan businesses are extremely susceptible to financial detriment. Without the proper protection, a variety of issues can arise from an IT disaster including the loss of valuable data, unhappy customers, and can tarnish your company’s reputation.
Planning a Backup and Recovery Strategy
IBM Power Systems are generally very reliable, but, like all products, the software requires continual updates to function at optimal capacity. While you may be able to run your system for years without experiencing any problems, the longer you run your iSeries AS/400, the more likely a problem will occur. Organizations rely heavily on the data stored on their servers, so an IBM iSeries disaster recovery plan is an essential safeguard for the future of your company.
What is Disaster Recovery as a Service?
Disaster Recovery as a Service (DRaaS) is a backup service model that uses the cloud to protect business applications and data from a disaster. It gives an organization a complete system backup that allows for business continuity in the event of system failure. DRaaS is often implemented in conjunction with a DR plan. Meridian’s Disaster Recovery as a Service solution enables you to select how frequently to backup your data and provide end-to-end protection on all platforms including private, public, or hybrid cloud. Meridian delivers a fully managed Disaster Recovery as a Service solution that helps businesses reduce costs and delivers confidence that their systems are protected. Meridian’s solutions support IBM Power i and AIX, Wintel, Linux, VMWare, and Hyper-V.
Benefits of Using a DRaaS Provider
Relieve the stress of managing your systems in the event of a disaster with Meridian’s IBM Power Systems Disaster Recovery as a Service. Some of the benefits of backing up your data with a third-party vendor, such as Meridian, include
- Remote Monitoring: Our highly experienced team of IBM Power Systems experts remotely monitor and manage your systems so that you can spend time focused on growing your business. The systems can be hosted in your data centers or by a third party, including Meridian. If any thresholds are detected or performance is compromised, our Global Support Center is notified immediately, and the appropriate action is taken to manage the failover. With Meridian, your servers are systematically monitored by our team of skilled engineers.
- Best Practices Used: You may assume that your IT department has everything under control. In reality, this may not be the case, and bringing a third party into the picture is very beneficial to ensure that systems are optimized and security risks are mitigated. Third-party service providers work closely with OEMs, such as IBM, to ensure that best practices are being applied. Meridian’s IBM experts have 800+ IBM certifications and badges. Using a DRaaS managed cloud provider not only accelerates disaster recovery time and frees your IT staff from resolving issues, but also reduces the chance of error from your IT staff who are operating under pressure in a disaster situation.
- Flexibility: The level of support you will require depends on your unique business needs. Some companies choose to protect their entire IT environment, while others choose to only protect the most critical applications. Fortunately, the choice is yours; a customized solution will be created for you to ensure flexibility and scalability. The best part of DRaaS us that you only pay for what you use. Say goodbye to fixed costs with Meridian’s pay-as-you-go model. If along the way you decide you need to customize your solution, just let us know and we will adjust the service to your needs.
- Security: Our experts will guarantee that you meet your Recovery Time Objectives (RTO) and Recovery Point Objectives (RPO). RTO is the targeted time in which your business process must be restored after an interruption to avoid a major business impact. RPO is defined as the maximum time in which your data can be lost without having a major impact on your business, and is often between 4 and 24 hours. Meridian’s IBM Power Systems experts will understand your business objectives while considering industry standards so that you are back up and running if a disaster strikes.
- Low, Predictable Costs: Third-party managed services costs can be surprisingly low. The resources are spread across a pool of clients, making the rates lower than expected. Your payment is also predictable so you will never be surprised and can plan your budget accordingly. By allowing a third party to manage your systems 24/7/365, you save your IT team significant time that can be spent on high-value projects for the business.
Having a disaster recovery plan in place is vital to the success of your business. The managed cloud DRaaS solution allows for predictable monthly payments that can be scaled for your unique business needs. Say NO MORE to spending money on failed technology projects when you choose Meridian’s IBM Disaster Recovery as a Service. By choosing a DRaaS provider with IBM iSeries expertise and years of experience, you can be confident that your IT environment is protected against disaster and disruption. Meridian’s brilliant humans will provide 24/7/365 IBM iSeries support to guarantee you receive the performance and service you expect and deserve.
Call +01564 330650, chat with us or send an email to info@meridianit.co.uk to speak with one of our solution experts.