There are fresh warnings for businesses that use cloud technology to put in place disaster recovery plans.
The warnings, from Leeds-based, Solution Performance Group (SPG) advise companies to have a disaster recovery plan in place for their cloud services, just as they would for on-premises IT systems. While cloud services offer various benefits, they are not immune to disruptions or disasters.
Gareth Humphreys, group CEO at SPG, said: "In a recent PwC survey, 78% of business leaders said they had adopted cloud in most or all areas of their organisations. Disaster recovery planning is essential for modern businesses, especially those that run all or part of their operations in the cloud. Unexpected events can occur at any time and disrupt services and erase data. A major bug could be disclosed, your network could go down, or a natural disaster could affect your company.
"Disasters can take various forms, including natural disasters, cyberattacks, hardware failures, and more. A well-prepared plan helps ensure that a business can continue its critical operations despite adversity. An effective plan will re-establish access and functionality to cloud infrastructure after a disaster, whether man-made or natural. Restoring operations as quickly and safely as possible is essential."
An effective cloud strategy can assist company leaders in realising the return on their IT investments by connecting data, systems, developing technology and devices. It offers the foundation for advancements in robotics, artificial intelligence, machine learning, blockchain technology, and improved analytics utilisation.
Cloud providers generally offer high availability, but no system is completely immune to downtime. Network outages, data centre failures, or software bugs can interrupt service. A disaster recovery plan helps minimise downtime by providing a way to recover critical services quickly and ensures that data is backed up and can be restored in case of data loss due to cyberattacks, accidental deletion, or other issues.
Some industries and regulatory bodies require businesses to have a disaster recovery plan to ensure data protection and business continuity. Failing to comply with these requirements can lead to legal and financial consequences.
If your business relies on cloud services to provide products or services to customers, a well-structured plan can help maintain customer trust by ensuring the availability and reliability of your services.
Gareth concluded: "When creating a disaster recovery plan for cloud services, consider factors such as data backup and recovery procedures, failover strategies, communication plans, and regular testing to ensure that the plan works effectively. Cloud service providers often offer tools and services that can assist in implementing disaster recovery solutions, but it's important for businesses to take an active role in planning and testing their strategy to meet their specific needs and requirements."
With offices in Newcastle and Leeds, SPG is an ecosystem of digital transformation, resourcing and software subsidiaries that work across the public and private sectors to deliver optimised technology solutions, highly efficient processes and empowered, successful teams. Its clients include the emergency services, government departments and social housing organisations.
