Technology Reseller v38

technologyreseller.co.uk 13 BUSINESS BRIEFING can be unpredictable and complex. If there are different tiers for compute, storage and security, customers can face big (and unwelcome) spikes in costs, for example when mounting and running a recovery virtual machine (VM) or when downloading a large data set from the cloud to restore a server, which can also incur egress fees; customers might not be fully supported during disaster recovery operations; and there are the usual questions over the shared model of the public cloud, which places responsibility for the security of the data squarely with the owner and not the cloud provider. For MSPs, cloud costs can also complicate billing. If you opt to use a public cloud, will you build estimated restore costs into your monthly fees for clients or will restore costs be billed separately? What happens if you under- estimate costs? That said, Datto recognises that there will be MSPs who favour a software-only solution, and to meet their needs it does provide a flat-fee, software-only BCDR through Datto vSIRIS. “This gives MSPs a lower cost solution plus the benefits of DRaaS via the Datto Cloud, including predictable cloud compute performance and dedicated tech support during disaster recovery operations, including failover and failback; and security features, such as invariable backup snapshots that cannot be infected with ransomware,” explained Harris. greater risks to their systems and data and increased vulnerability due to Work from Home, BCDR is likely to become an ever more important part of an MSP’s offering to clients. It’s also important to remember that no business is too small to be attacked, and BCDR is just as relevant to these smaller organisations”. What, then, should MSPs look for – or look at – when choosing a BCDR solution? Software-only or all-in-one? A key decision is whether to choose a software-only solution that can be used on existing hardware with backups in the public or private cloud or an all-in- one offering from a single vendor that includes hardware, software, and the BCDR provider’s own cloud. Looked at from the perspective of affordability, the former can appear an attractive option; the software can run on existing hardware with backups to the public cloud paid for on a consumption basis. However, while such solutions are generally less expensive initially, the total cost of ownership can be greater in the long-run due to a number of factors, from unexpected cloud costs (see below) to greater maintenance costs that can be incurred in a multi-vendor solution, for example when a software update to one element creates problems with another component of the overall solution. As with any multi-vendor solution, there is also the potential for vendors of the constituent parts to deny responsibility for problems that do occur, making it harder for MSPs to provide a speedy resolution to any fault. With an all-in-one solution, they get single-vendor support across hardware software and the cloud. Not all clouds are the same MSPs that choose a software-only solution should also ask themselves whether the cloud service they use is appropriate as not every cloud has been developed with BCDR in mind. What does that mean? As described earlier, the cloud has two functions in BCDR: it serves as an offsite storage repository for tertiary backup server images used for restores; and, secondly, it enables a virtual machine (VM) to be mounted in the cloud to take over primary server operations during failover. All public cloud providers will offer server and storage infrastructure. However, unless they are optimised for BCDR, costs The benefits of all-in-one For MSPs that require a BCDR solution covering hardware, as well as software and the cloud, there are big benefits in choosing an all-in-one solution. These include: n Greater ease-of-use; n The convenience of dealing with just one vendor for hardware, software, and cloud; n One predictable monthly fee for hardware, software and cloud storage, compute and restore costs (dependent on supplier), keeping OPEX costs and margins on services predictable; n No unexpected cloud costs; n The right-sizing of hardware for each client deployment, reducing manual labour and the risk of configuration errors; and n The option to replace hardware and upgrade capacity to meet customers’ changing needs. Harris points out that,with its Unified Continuity suite, Datto is well placed to provide MSPs with customised solutions to meet their clients’ needs. She said: “When things go wrong, as they surely will at some point, businesses want several things: access to data with minimal data loss; speedy restoration; and reliable recovery. Datto’s BCDR solutions, including the Datto Cloud, are designed to provide all three.” To find out more about Unified Continuity, contact us today. A DRaaS Checklist n Is it purpose-built for MSPs? n Is it purpose-built for BCDR or does it rely on legacy local backup systems? n Is it a private or public cloud? n Is it an all-in-one solution—a single vendor for hardware, software, and cloud? n Does it offer flexible deployment options— appliance, virtual, or software? n Can it meet your clients’ RTO and RPO requirements? n Will it prepare you for the growing threat of ransomware? n Does it have proven performance to minimise downtime in a disaster? n Is it a predictable flat fee cost model, or are there complicated pricing tiers? The datto SIRIS all-in-one business continuity and disaster recovery (BCDR) solution unifies backup and disaster recovery