Backup vs DRaaS is a question many businesses are asking as they review their disaster recovery plans since COVID-19. That includes checking on their backup data essentials. You probably have methods to prevent data loss from human error, system malfunctions, or cybercrime. However, you may not have been ready to protect your information during a pandemic.
Choosing between Disaster Recovery-as-a-Service (DRaaS) and Backup-as-a-Service (BaaS) is a common dilemma. The two differ in more than the provider and the service. This post explains those differences so you can pick the right one.
Backup vs DRaaS: a car accident comparison
Think of a car accident. Would you rather have a third party restore your car for you? Or would you rather have your team put it back together from the salvaged parts? Do you want that burden on your team, or on an outsourced one?
The right answer depends on your company’s infrastructure and preferences. If you can afford the time and effort, you can handle recovery on your own. Backup means putting files back together to rebuild an application that was lost for some reason. Your team plays mechanic and reassembles those backups so systems work as they did before, within your time limits.
Disaster recovery, on the other hand, is a set of procedures, policies, and processes that keep your technology infrastructure running. That matters most to organizations that face human-caused or natural disasters, because a smooth recovery is vital to them.
DRaaS gets back the lost data and the applications built on that data. Cloud backups, on the other hand, only promise to restore the data, so your team has to put the pieces back together.
What to weigh before choosing DRaaS
DRaaS has a lot to weigh before it becomes an excellent choice. The main concerns are the pricing packages and the RPO and RTO promises. RPO is the maximum amount of time you can lose data after a disruption. RTO is the time your business can wait before operations run smoothly again.
On average, DRaaS costs 120 to 150% of your current infrastructure for recovery, and that is usually the case for immediate RPO and RTO. Some businesses lower this cost by running two active systems. When one crashes, the other allows a longer RPO and RTO, so the cost drops to 95 to 105% of the current infrastructure.
Most medium-sized businesses cannot afford these recovery costs, so they opt for strong cloud backup solutions. While weighing this option, they make sure they can recover to full production capacity within hours. That costs just 40% of current infrastructure, which is a considerable drop compared to DRaaS.
Questions to ask before you decide
Backup vs DRaaS comes down to a few personal questions. Ask yourself these:
- Can you and your team take on the technical burden, energy, and time constraints?
- How much downtime can your business suffer before it hurts?
- What price are you willing to pay for your data infrastructure?
If you still need help deciding after answering them, our experienced professionals can give you more advice.
Understanding automated managed backup service
Cloud-based storage is not new. However, many companies now see the advantage of newer services built on it, like automated managed backup.
Automated backup services give your business offsite file storage and software that backs up your critical data on a schedule you choose.
The benefits of this simple offsite storage are its functionality and redundancy. Storing data offsite helps with recovery and protection in an emergency. It also helps because people forget to back up their files regularly. Backups that are days or weeks out of date may not help much after a data loss. Automated systems take the worry out of backups and protect your valuable data and files on a regular schedule.
Even the best backup is not much use if recovering files is slow and hard. Testing your recovery process will show problems before you need it. CISA also offers guidance on backing up business data. Your employees should be able to restore lost data quickly, or the system is not usable.
Want to set up managed backup services or learn about automated recovery options? The team at Volico is here to help. Our experts can answer all your questions about choosing the right service for your company.
Ready to learn more about Disaster Recovery-as-a-Service (DRaaS) and Backup-as-a-Service (BaaS)?
If you are ready to discuss backup and replication services, contact us today. Our team will help you compare backup vs DRaaS and choose the option that best suits your needs.
