Disaster Recovery Journal, Fall 2009

DATA PROTECTION

By JAMES M. MYERS

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Storage, network, and computing systems have all increased in performance consistent with Moore’s Law (doubling every two years). Software solutions are now available to tie all these components together into a blended compute and storage infrastructure. “Cloud computing” is leading this shift to an outsourced information technology (IT), possibly across the enterprise.

This shift of computing resources ( internal to external) is a strategic initiative that needs to be seriously considered. It may have direct impact on enhancing the technical recoverability and operational resilience of an enterprise. It may take some time before businesses are willing to move their core applications or their entire IT infrastructure to the cloud, but if they do, they need to know and understand what cloud vendor responsibilities are and what their own responsibilities and costs will be.

The intent of growing, managing and maintaining a business resilient enterprise is to ensure critical business data, systems, processes, human resources and infrastructure are up and running prior, during and post a business interruption event. Business resiliency is based upon two key operational initiatives:

16 DISASTER RECOVERY JOURNAL FALL 2009

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An effective DR program ensures the ongoing availability of core company data, IT systems and software. An effective BC program ensures core business processes are connected; employees are knowledgeable of recovery efforts and procedures, vendor service agreements are aligned with recovery needs, government controls are supported and the company premise remains viable. So, the multi-million dollar question is, “What affect does cloud computing have on existing and future BC/DR programs?”

Cloud Computing and BC/DR

Every BC/DR program must take into consideration the business metrics that support a resilient enterprise. This includes the amount and type of risk associated with moving to an outsourced environment. There are some strong business reasons why companies outsource their IT departments to “the cloud.” Below is a list of pros and cons as they relate to BC/DR and business requirements:

Pros:

1. Easy adoption for certain applications.

Roadblocks to entry are small for certain web-

- Less internal technical support – reduction in full-time employees

- Reduction in training requirements - Reduction in overall facilities cost

3. Minimal or no capital expenditure (CapEx).

4. Redundant systems and infrastructure can exist within the cloud.

5.;Scalability;and;flexibility;to;change;services (assuming they’re available).

6. Access to knowledge data – where the only requirement is Internet access.

Cons:

1.;Difficult;adoption.;Most;legacy;applications;are not well suited to easily migrate to the cloud.

2. Company core data being managed by a third party.

3. Who has access to the company’s core data may be unknown to the client.

4. Data security is dependent upon the vendor’s security initiatives. These initiatives may not coincide with legal and/or governmental mandates stipulated by the client, or the client’s client.

5. Type and level of redundancy within the cloud may not support the required business metrics. 6. Propensity to get locked into a single vendor. 7. Inconsistencies in global regulatory issues. 8. Less creativity and freedom to grow and/or change strategic business initiatives.