Ten Ways to Ensure Disaster Protection in the Cloud

Ten Ways to Ensure Disaster Protection in the Cloud

1. Safe Distance
Validate that you have multiple cloud providers and that their physical location is far removed from yours.

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2. High Priority
Rank business applications in order of importance to pinpoint which are absolutely required to keep company running.

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3. Time Sync
Among those must-have apps, evaluate how quickly contingency plans will make them available after an event.

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4. Hardcopy
Keep physical copies of critical apps and software, instead of depending solely upon e-representations.

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5. Contractual Language
Review cloud-vendor agreements to see what is being promised in case of a disaster - especially restoration times.

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6. Making the Grade
Test all mission-critical apps with cloud vendors at least once a year.

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7. A La Carte
Adopt a "pay as you go" model for computing, storage, networking, tech support.

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8. Doubling Up
Take advantage of redundant communications channels - including social media such as Twitter - to keep connections open.

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9. Helping Hand
Make sure that all company locations have fail-over strategies in place to allow those in an impacted area to turn to, if needed.

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10. People Power
Train staff at those fail-over sites so they're knowledgeable about your systems, for shorter recovery times.