Disaster Recovery: Planning for Cloud Network Outages

The cloud is a powerful and cost-efficient solution for application and database services, but businesses using it should be aware that it doesn’t always have disaster recovery strategies in place. Losing connection to the network can be a major problem, but fortunately, there are a number of steps a business can take to reduce the impact of a network outage.

Planning Ahead

The first step in a comprehensive disaster recovery plan is to have it in place before a disaster actually happens, whether it be a natural disaster, a construction accident, or a malicious attack. Business leaders should know which departments will be crippled by a network outage, how long is too long for an outage, and the worst-case scenario. This should all be documented so that, in the event of a problem, everyone within the business knows who can continue to work.

Access Points and Remote Working

Multiple access points are a must in disaster recovery, and one of the ways to keep employees working is to allow them to work remotely. While this is usually only a temporary solution (and doesn’t work if the disaster is widespread), it can be used as a stop-gap measure until the network is brought back. Businesses should ensure that employees have been trained to work remotely and have both the software and hardware they need.

Another way to ensure access is to invest in satellite or mobile access. This may be less efficient — and more expensive — but can also mean that a business is only briefly interrupted and able to complete important tasks while waiting for connectivity to return.

Backup for the Cloud

Sometimes the connectivity issue isn’t with the business, but with the cloud provider. On-premise or hybrid cloud solutions could both remedy this. Businesses looking towards these solutions should be aware that they’ll first need security measures in-house, as well as employees who are knowledgeable about on-premise data storage. This may be an extra cost, but helps add redundancy to data backup: if a disaster occurs at the physical location, the business still has a copy in the cloud, and if the cloud goes down, they still have the data safely in their local network.

A well-planned disaster recovery solution can make the difference between a business being down for days at a time, or just a small hiccup that most customers may not even notice. Knowing how a disaster will affect the business will enable business leaders to arrange for remote working, deploy backup solutions, and ensure that important data is copied to both physical and cloud networks.