A safer option: Disaster recovery
Jan 30 2009
Make a quick recovery
Disaster recovery doesn’t have to be expensive or time-consuming. By moving application, email and storage needs onto the web, businesses can effectively ‘automate’ the recovery process.
Fire damage
Construction services company Erith, which somewhat ironically specialises in demolition, discovered this unique benefit by accident in September 2006, after an out-of-control bonfire spread to a nearby pile of stored oxy-acetylene cylinders – one of which torpedoed Erith’s boardroom and reduced its offices and server room to a pile of cinders.
Prior to the incident, the company had been trialling Google Apps, notably the search giant’s enterprise email offering. Up until the explosion, employee response had been somewhat ambivalent, explains Paul Driscoll, the company’s IT manager. Afterwards, those working with Google Apps were able to let customers know the company was still in business even if the entire operation had moved into a spare room in the CEO’s house.
‘Google Apps saved us a lot of money,’ recalls Driscoll, adding that it has continued to save the firm around £20,000 a year by reducing the need for servers, licences and email management software.
However, he observes that while much of the cost savings came from replacing the Microsoft Exchange email server, most employees still use Microsoft Office: ‘I wouldn’t pay for Google Docs on its own at the moment,’ he says.
Outsourcing a business-critical function like email to a hosted service is a good way for companies to dip a toe in the software-as-a-service pond, but it pays to shop around. Companies such as Mimecast and Symantec-owned MessageLabs offer advanced security as well. But regardless of who provides the service, disaster recovery can be a welcome freebie.
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