4 Common Myths about BCDR Solutions

Whether you are new to BCDR (business continuity/disaster recovery) services or replacing your current product, it’s important to get beyond common myths and see the bigger picture. Understanding these misconceptions can help you select the right product for your managed services practice.

Myth 1: Backup is good enough.

Backup is obviously a critical part of business continuity and disaster recovery. However, on its own, backup leaves businesses susceptible to costly downtime. Why? Because recovering large data sets (such as the contents of an entire server) can be time-consuming–not to mention the time it takes to procure new hardware if primary systems become inoperable. Meanwhile, productivity grinds to a halt, and revenue stops flowing. That’s why businesses need a solution that enables fast restores in addition to backup. For many organizations today, that means BCDR. BCDR solutions use backup, snapshot, virtualization and the cloud to protect data and enable fast restores.

Myth 2: Software-only BCDR vendors are less expensive 

It’s understandable why this myth exists, because software-only products do have lower up-front costs when compared with all-in-one solutions. That’s largely because you can deploy them on any hardware (for example, inexpensive, commodity x86 servers) and public cloud. However, if you look at the total cost of ownership (TCO), software-only products can actually be more expensive than all-in-one solutions in the long run.

With all-in-one solutions, ease of use is prioritized. You get a single vendor (and monthly fee) for hardware, software and cloud. Technical support is straightforward, no matter where the issue lies. Also, hardware is right-sized for client deployments, reducing manual labor, configuration errors and the associated costs of each. All-in-one solutions may even include hardware replacement and capacity upgrades, easing scalability over time. Finally, there are no unexpected cloud costs.

Myth 3: All clouds are the same

Yes, all cloud providers deliver highly available server and storage infrastructure. However, that does not mean they are created equally for BCDR. Public cloud costs are unpredictable at best. Yes, you only pay for what you use, but that means costs spike at the worst possible time—when you mount and run a recovery virtual machine (VM). Additionally, cloud providers charge egress fees for moving data out of the cloud. Finally, some clouds have different tiers for compute, storage and security, which can add complexity. Some all-in-one BCDR solutions include cloud costs in a single monthly fee. This can be a benefit for MSPs, because it keeps OPEX costs predictable. It makes billing clients for BCDR services simple and ensures margins on services remain consistent. Some all-in-one solution providers offer additional security measures like two-factor authentication at every step and hardened cloud appliances. Others might offer data immutability and automated retention capabilities that help organizations meet security objectives and compliance regulations.

Myth 4: All BCDR solutions carry the same risk 

This simply isn’t true. The amount of risk you assume when delivering BCDR services can vary widely depending on the solution and vendor you choose. Again, let’s compare all-in-one solutions with software-only products. With software-only products, you’re relying on multiple vendors for hardware, software and cloud. This can result in multiple points of failure and potential finger-pointing among vendors, so it takes longer to resolve issues. What’s worse, if one vendor makes a change, it can impact the entire solution. For example, a software update might result in anything from a minor decrease in performance to a costly hardware upgrade. With all-in-one solutions, MSPs get single-vendor backing and support across software, hardware and cloud. This means less risk for MSPs.

As an MSP, picking the right BCDR solution is crucial to ensure your clients and your business are protected. Now that we’ve dispelled some of the myths about BCDR solutions, it’s time to dive into how to select the right one for your business. Download our BCDR Buyer’s Guide for tips on what to look for when selecting a BCDR solution.

 Christian Kane is Manager, Product Marketing-Unified Continuity, Datto.

 This guest blog is part of a Channel Futures sponsorship.