If the IT system goes down, the business cannot function. If data is lost, most businesses do not ever recover from such an event. Regular backups are vital, but too many companies continue to rely on outdated technology and mindset to handle this important function.
At the technology level, there's over-reliance on tape backups. They are relatively cheap but they are unreliable, and it's virtually impossible to test them adequately. Many IT teams have found themselves dealing with corrupted or incomplete tapes during the stress and pressure of a disaster.
Rebuilding from tapes is extremely resource-intensive, and has been known to take days, if not weeks.
Another point is that backing up to tape is time-consuming, and as the volumes of data on corporate systems continue to grow dramatically, backup windows have to increase. In reality, given the pressure of the 24/7 business world, backup windows need to be shorter. Currently, many backups simply aren't completed due to insufficient time.
A related problem is that data is typically backed up to tape without planning. The result: repeated duplication of backup data which worsens the recovery situation.
Gartner in the report, Gartner: The Broken State of Backup, sums it up with its usual pithiness: "The backup and recovery approaches of the past no longer suffice in meeting the current, much less the future organisational recovery requirements."
Follow the Yellow Brick Road
The good news is that there are solutions.
At the technology level, companies are increasingly using disk-based solutions. They are faster and so reduce the backup window; more reliable; better able to be automated; compress and de-duplicate data on the device and simplify testing of the backups.
Perhaps more importantly, is the mindset to move to the "as a service" revolution, which is transforming backup and business continuity. Connectivity is becoming increasingly available and affordable, even here in SA, which means that it's now practical and cost-effective to outsource the management and automation of backup to disk to a specialist third party.
Backups can be tested to ensure they can be restored and work. In this scenario, backups are retained on site for quick restoration, and also transmitted to the service provider's off-site data centre in the event that the client's whole site is compromised.
The best part is that IT staff members have one burden removed from their shoulders, no small thing given the shortage of skills and tight budgets. Impact on normal production is minimised, while the company's ability to return to business as usual, in the wake of a disaster is greatly enhanced.
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