EVault, a Seagate company (NASDAQ: STX), today announced its market-leading EVault Cloud Disaster Recovery Service with a guaranteed* service level agreement (SLA) is now available from EVault and its partners in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA).
The Cloud Disaster Recovery Service, powered by EVault, is a managed service that helps businesses quickly recover their critical systems after a disaster and gain remote access to them in a secure, purpose-built cloud. From full site outages caused by natural disasters to disruptions resulting from system failures, human error - and even planned maintenance - this disaster recovery as a service (DRaaS) offering is guaranteed to get organisations back in business fast, no matter what. With four-, 24- and 48-hour guaranteed recovery options available, the service is particularly beneficial for businesses in heavily regulated industries, such as healthcare, financial and legal services, which cannot tolerate extended outages of critical systems. Offered in North America for several years, EVault Cloud Disaster Recovery Service has become an industry standard.
EVault Cloud Disaster Recovery Service is especially valuable for organisations located in disaster-prone areas. Without a cloud-based backup and recovery facility located out of the region, away from the disaster, these companies are particularly vulnerable to interruptions in business operations. "Running our business on the waterfront, on a major hurricane corridor, you have to be prepared for natural disasters. Our business cannot afford to be derailed for any reason. EVault Cloud Disaster Recovery gives me and my management team confidence that our data will always be there when we need it," said Rick Arrington, Product Support Manager, The Resort Collection of Panama City Beach.
"On the whole, our company took the position that if the store went up in flames, there's nothing we could do but insure it," explained Brian Cypress, VP and CIO at Kleinfeld Bridal, the largest single-store bridal emporium in the world. "After a few close calls with disaster, including short power outages, we just felt we needed to do more. During our research, EVault seemed to be the cleanest, and it has now proven to be exactly the solution we need."
For Kleinfeld, EVault Cloud Disaster Recovery Service was an anticipated need, which was tested in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy, in October 2012. In Kleinfeld's case, critical data pertaining to 50 weddings planned for the period immediately following the storm was recovered in the EVault Cloud under the 24-hour SLA.
"All organisations should consider migrating to the cloud, especially when it comes to protecting their data. The cloud is a natural fit for disaster recovery, and from our UK base, we are pleased to be leading the way as the first to market in the EMEA region with EVault's leading Cloud Disaster Recovery Service," said Alan Back, director, Data Continuity Group. "In many organisations, disaster recovery is considered too expensive and complex, but this service makes it accessible to all."
Key EVault Cloud Disaster Recovery Service features include:
* Managed, rapid recovery of critical systems and data in the EVault Cloud or certified service provider partners' clouds within four, 24 or 48 hours after a disaster (depending on service level), and guaranteed by an SLA.
* An experienced team of disaster recovery specialists that extend IT resources, helping customers implement, plan, test and execute the entire disaster recovery process 24/7/365.
* Remote access to applications in a secure, top tier, standards-compliant** data centre ("warm" site for 24- or 48-hour SLA; "hot site" for four-hour SLA) that extends the customer's production environment into the EVault Cloud as long as customers need.
* Proactive fail-over support provides a zero-downtime alternative for planned maintenance, site outages and upgrades.
* A four-hour SLA recovery option that is compatible with any existing backup solution.
According to a report issued by German media organisation Deutsche Welle [1], 46 million people worldwide live less than three feet above sea level. The economic impact of global disasters between 2011 and 2012 was calculated at $1.4 trillion, with 66% of these disasters being weather-related.
Despite the common perception that natural disasters, such as hurricanes and earthquakes, are considered more commonplace in North America, Europe's biggest economies are increasingly under threat. In the United Kingdom, research from Oxford University [2] suggests that increases in heavy rainfall during winter months may start to become more obvious in the 2020s. Figures by Ubyrisk Consultants, a company specialising in the study of natural hazards, states that, over the past 10 years, France [3] has experienced a surge in natural disasters. Floods, which account for 20% of these disasters, are estimated to cost approximately EUR1.5 million ($2 million) to address. Meanwhile, Statistics Netherlands [4], an organisation that collects and processes data for use by policy-makers and scientific research, estimates that one third of the total land area of the Netherlands, where six million people live, is prone to floods. According to Climate Central [5], a non-profit climate news and research organisation, low-lying cities affected by rising sea levels will face an "unprecedented challenge this century".
"EVault Cloud Disaster Recovery Service has a long and successful track record of offering companies the peace of mind they and their stakeholders need to work under adverse conditions. Further, as in those cases during Superstorm Sandy, EVault stepped up to meet its obligations, and in many cases, far exceeded them by ensuring customers could keep operating their businesses because, quite simply, that's what we do," said Terry Cunningham, president and general manager of EVault. "Sandy was not a dress rehearsal - it was the worst natural disaster that region had ever experienced. We are proud that all of our customers who declared disasters during the hurricane had 100% recovery, as promised by their SLAs. As the DRaaS leader, we have experienced great demand from our customers and partners to extend this service outside of the United States and Canada. We look forward to working with our partners and customers in EMEA, and to extend the service to the rest of the world in the coming years."
The EVault Cloud Disaster Recovery Service is available with four-, 24- and 48-hour SLAs and is available immediately from EVault partners and EVault directly. Pricing depends on the type and amount of servers, data and VPN connections, and the length of the contract.
* The guarantee includes service credits and the right to terminate if the guarantee is not met, and is subject to the terms and conditions set forth in the EVault Cloud Disaster Recovery service level agreement.
** Meets highest standards for cloud service providers, including ISO 27001 in EMEA and SSAE 16 in North America.
