5 reasons to outsource your Backup and DR

Backup and Disaster Recovery go hand in hand to support business continuity. Due to today’s highly competitive business world, our data is one of our most important assets so protecting that data has become a major priority for organisations.

Outsourcing backup and DR is often the preferred solution for businesses. It’s a simpler, easier way to ensure that your company’s data can be recovered and restored in the event of an incident. If you’re undecided about whether to outsource your backups (or who to partner with), have a read of five of the many reasons why outsourcing your backup and DR is a good idea.

1.   Manpower: Difficulty Finding Skilled Workers

Finding the right employee with the right skills that fits into your company culture is not easy.  The market is highly competitive and candidate driven that attracting the top talent is becoming increasingly difficult. According to Indeed, roles such as software engineers and technical support specialists were among the most advertised, but saw the least interest. Outsourcing your Backup and Disaster Recovery to a third party solves this problem eliminating the pain of losing a candidate to a competitor or a larger tech company.

2.    Scale: Are Your IT Systems Equipped to Handle Your Company Growth?

Generally companies with in-house IT Departments plan for their current IT requirements but rarely factor in growth. As your business grows, new servers, software, storage devices and networks may be required. New systems need to be compatible with the current infrastructure and new data needs to mesh with the old data. Outsourcing your Backup and DR to quality service providers who already have the necessary data centres and resources in place to handle expansion, means you can relax and focus on running your business.

3.    Expertise: Are You Up to Date with the Latest Technology?

Business continuity is more than backing up your data on an external hard drive. It takes research into potential threats and adapting to the latest technology. Outsourcing these tasks makes sense, especially for smaller firms where technicians are performing multiple roles. Ekco’s core business is Backup and Disaster Recovery. When you partner with a service provider like us, you will gain access to all of our resources and knowledge. It’s like having an extended arm of your business, but without having to manage them or pay employee benefits.

4.     Cost: Have You Weighed Up All The Hidden Costs?

When IT budgets are tight, keeping things in-house can look appealing. However, it’s important to weigh up exactly how much each option will ultimately cost the business in the long run. According to a Computer Economics study, 92% of respondents cited that outsourcing DR resulted in costs that were either identical or lower than in-house efforts. Since service providers make the initial investment into hardware, infrastructure management and data centres, cost savings are automatically passed on to customers. A sound pricing model also promotes transparency, making costs easy to predict and manage.

Outside of the obvious hardware and licensing fees, it’s important not to overlook the hidden costs like manpower, risk and recruitment. Time is money but by outsourcing your backup and Disaster Recovery to experts, you immediately save on recruitment agency fees, employer fees and time spent looking for suitable candidates.

5.    Data Compliance & GDPR

The GDPR gives DR testing a high level of importance so why risk not doing it right? Article 32 of everyone’s favourite acronym outlines two important requirements:

• The ability to quickly restore data availability and access in the event of an incident
• The ability to test and assess the effectiveness of data protection plans

This means that making weekly backups of your data is no longer sufficient. The GDPR requires data to be recovered without delay and we must take documented steps to ensure the effectiveness of those efforts. Outsourcing your B/DR to experts like Ekco gives you peace of mind that when audited, you have detailed reports of system tests, and in the event of an incident, can recover and restore data quickly.

Each company is different and if you have the manpower, budget and expertise to keep your backup and Disaster Recovery in house, then perhaps that’s the way to go. However if your B/DR is already causing you headaches or you need some help in deciding, why not give the team at Ekco a call for a no obligation chat.