Disaster recovery capability is an important factor for users to consider cloud computing

Considering using cloud computing? Then you are not alone. Almost every IT organization is considering the cloud as a way to boost services, save overhead, or shift workloads. There are good reasons to consider using cloud computing. Although the cloud may not be for everyone, the cloud has a huge advantage for a understaffed IT organization that can provide the private sector and multinational companies with millions of of employees the same level of service as within the enterprise, and can save a lot of budget. However, when enterprises migrate services to external providers, they are transferring responsibility for all aspects of the service, regardless of whether the service is functioning properly. The disaster recovery capability of cloud computing is one of the most important considerations for all customers when investigating cloud providers. All disasters are expected to ensure that these key points are addressed in the survey and that they are fully understood to meet business requirements.

When disaster strikes, it's the cloud provider's performance.

I'm pretty sure that every good cloud service provider has the right disaster recovery plan, tested, validated, and has other resources to continue to support operations in the event of a site failure. But if I'm going to consider a cloud provider, I want to know what resources are available, how they are implemented, and what this means for me and my users. When my company is experiencing disaster, I am also interested in how the cloud provider will help me.

Read Service level agreement

It's really going to take some time to read and understand the service level agreements provided by the cloud service provider. Ask and walk through the scenarios to make sure you understand exactly what the disaster consists of, how the disaster affects all the details of the service level agreement and the disaster recovery event, including who declared the disaster, what processes and techniques are used to minimize the impact on the user, and how long it takes to recover the service. A few hours of downtime may seem endless, but your business should continue to operate. If your business does not meet this requirement, cloud services may not be good for you, but the business should not be interrupted for a day or a few days. Your account may have credit rights, but recovery services are often more important.

RPO

Disaster means that something bad has happened, and when it comes to disaster, it usually means that data has been lost. Make sure you understand the RPO of the services so that you know how much data may be lost in the event of a disaster.

RTO

Release RTO in front of all stakeholders to ensure that everyone understands and agrees to this value. When a cloud service provider is experiencing a disaster, it should be able to recover services within the time specified by RTO. Your boss yells at you and calls the cloud service provider to ask them to restore services more quickly without any effect. So make sure everyone understands how long it takes to get the service back to normal.

Disaster recovery Testing

An increasing number of service providers provide multi-tenant services, but that does not mean that users will test disaster recovery and that there will be no process cooperation. Review the disaster Recovery test plan and results to ensure that internal and external responsibilities are fully considered. You may have to adjust your disaster recovery plan to test your disaster recovery plan within the limits of your service provider. Before submitting to the cloud service provider, know that this may affect the audit, certification, or contractual obligations with the user.

Cloud computing has the potential to save a lot of it budgets for the company and to provide services that the company itself cannot achieve. A comprehensive understanding of how cloud service provider disaster recovery works will provide assurance for successful applications, and disaster recovery can restore the normal operation of services at a minimal cost.

(Responsible editor: The good of the Legacy)