By David Hutchison, CDCS, Founder of Excipio; a premier data center strategy company.
Let me start by saying this: The way most companies think about disaster recovery is outdated and bordering on neglect. In an era where threats come from everywhere—ransomware, climate change, geopolitical instability—it's time we take a long, hard look at whether our disaster recovery (DR) plans can truly keep up. Spoiler alert: for most of us, they can't.
I'm David Hutchison from Excipio, and I've spent 24 years helping organizations navigate the labyrinth of data center management, optimization, and, crucially, resilience. Today, I want to talk about why the concept of resilience should be at the core of your disaster recovery strategy—and why simply backing up your data isn't going to cut it anymore. The stakes are higher now, and the old ways of thinking simply won't protect your organization when the worst happens.
The Illusion of Safety
Here's a common scenario I see all the time: Companies put together a disaster recovery plan, stash it away in a drawer or on a shared drive, and forget about it until something goes wrong. And when it does, they learn—too late—that their 'plan' is nothing but an illusion of safety. Most DR plans are simply a collection of vague protocols and emergency contacts, lacking the depth needed for today's challenges. They might have the basics covered, like data backups and a timeline to restore operations. But I'm here to tell you that's no longer enough. You need digital resilience. You need the capability to recover, adapt, and keep your business going, no matter what happens.
The New Landscape of Threats
We are operating in a radically different landscape from even five years ago. Disaster recovery plans designed for natural events like hurricanes or hardware failures are woefully unprepared for today's threats.
Ransomware Attacks: These are now among the most common disruptions. Cybercriminals aren't just encrypting your data; they're exfiltrating it and holding your systems and reputation hostage.
Climate Change: Natural disasters are increasing in both frequency and intensity. If your primary data center is in a flood zone or even an area prone to extreme temperatures, then you're living on borrowed time.
Geopolitical Instability: Global tensions are affecting the supply chain and increasing risks related to infrastructure availability. Whether it's regional conflicts or sanctions, geopolitical issues can impact your data center's ability to operate, especially if you rely on a supply chain that is thousands of miles long.
If your disaster recovery plan doesn't account for these realities, it's time for a major overhaul.
Digital Resilience: More Than Recovery
Digital resilience is more than the ability to recover; it's the capacity to adapt. Here's what resilience means in the context of your data center:
Continuous Operations: Instead of being reactive—responding to a disaster after it happens—resilient infrastructure ensures that critical functions remain up and running even when a disruption occurs. It's about seamless continuity.
Dynamic, Cloud-Backed Systems: When integrated correctly, cloud technology offers the dynamic scalability needed to maintain operations. With cloud-backed infrastructure, workloads can be migrated to unaffected areas automatically. If there's an environmental or political regional issue, your cloud integrations can ensure you're running from a secure location.
Real-Time Insights and Automation: Let me be blunt: manual disaster recovery protocols don't cut it anymore. Automation and AI-driven insights are crucial in today's world, allowing you to detect threats in real-time and trigger appropriate mitigation strategies—often before you're even aware of the threat.
Testing, Testing, Testing: When did you last test your disaster recovery plan? A year ago? Two? Many companies never test their DR plans because the process seems too complex or disruptive. With resilient infrastructure, testing is continuous and often automated, ensuring that when you need it, your plan isn't just theory—it's proven.
The Costs of an Outdated Disaster Recovery Plan
It's not just about technology but also money, reputation, and survival. The average cost of an unplanned data center outage is a staggering $8,850 per minute. Downtime is not just lost revenue—it's also lost customer trust, eroded market value, and missed opportunities. For those who think, "We have backups, so we're safe," I have some sobering news. Backups are great, but they're far from a complete solution. How quickly can you restore that data? What happens if the very infrastructure needed to access those backups is compromised? In a ransomware scenario, your backup might be encrypted, too. Recovery isn't just about having a copy of your data—it's about having the systems, processes, and capabilities to access that data and continue operations, no matter the circumstances.
A Real-World Example: Resilience in Action
Take, for example, a recent engagement with a large university network—a client managing data from multiple satellite locations. Their disaster recovery plan was outdated; it focused mainly on hardware redundancy. We helped them migrate critical functions to a hybrid cloud setup, ensuring that if one data center went offline due to a natural disaster or cyberattack, their operations could seamlessly transition to a secondary cloud-based backup.
Not only did we improve their ability to recover, but we also improved their ability to adapt. Their university services could continue with minimal disruption, critical financial records remained accessible, and they didn't have to worry about system-wide downtime affecting student data and access. That's the power of digital resilience—you're not just getting back on your feet; you're avoiding the fall altogether.
Building a Resilient Infrastructure
If you're ready to rethink disaster recovery, here's what you should be focusing on to build resilient infrastructure:
Embrace the Hybrid Cloud: A hybrid cloud strategy is one of the best ways to achieve resilience. The combination of on-premises data centers and cloud backups ensures flexibility. You get control of physical infrastructure with the flexibility and scalability of the cloud. If a physical location is compromised, operations continue without interruption in the cloud.
Implement AI and Automation: By leveraging AI for predictive analytics, you can identify threats before they materialize into crises. Automation can handle failover operations and infrastructure reallocation—moving workloads from a compromised environment to a stable one without human intervention.
Geographic Redundancy: Geographic redundancy is one of the most critical components of a resilient data center. Ensure your backups and failover systems aren't all in the exact location. Whether it's wildfires, floods, or geopolitical issues, having multiple geographically diverse locations reduces the risk of a single point of failure.
Continuous Testing and Drills: Regular testing of your disaster recovery plan shouldn't be an afterthought. Schedule frequent drills, simulate various disaster scenarios, and ensure every team member knows their role in maintaining continuity. Better yet, utilize systems that test themselves continuously—this is where automation comes in handy.
Focus on Business Continuity, Not Just Data Recovery: Data recovery is only part of the story. True resilience is about keeping your core business functions running during a disruption. Identify critical applications and processes, and make sure they are prioritized in your recovery plans. It's not just about restoring data—it's about maintaining the functions that matter most to your business.
The Role of Leadership in Digital Resilience
As a CIO or Director of Facilities, you have a critical role in guiding your organization toward resilience. It's time to have tough conversations about the adequacy of your current disaster recovery plan and whether it truly reflects the needs of a modern, always-on business environment. It's your responsibility to understand that DR is no longer just an IT issue—it's a boardroom issue that affects your organization's very survival.
The shift towards digital resilience requires both technological and cultural changes. Technologically, it means investing in systems capable of scaling and adapting dynamically. Culturally, it means prioritizing resilience in IT and across every department. Resilience is the new measure of operational maturity.
Are You Ready for Resilience?
The question is no longer if disaster will strike—it's when. Ransomware isn't going away. Natural disasters are increasing. The geopolitical landscape is more unstable than it has been in decades. Are you ready? The comfort of believing in an outdated disaster recovery plan is dangerous. A false sense of security could cost you everything when real-world threats come knocking. Digital resilience, however, ensures that when disaster strikes, your organization isn't scrambling in the dark—you're ready, nimble, and capable of maintaining business as usual.
A Call to Action
If your disaster recovery plan hasn't been re-evaluated in the last year, it's already obsolete. The threats we face are evolving too fast, and the costs of unpreparedness are too high. Let's talk about how to transform your data center from a vulnerable liability into a resilient backbone for your business. At Excipio, I've seen what works and what doesn't, and I can help you design a disaster recovery strategy that isn't just about bouncing back—it's about never falling in the first place.
Reach out today, schedule that meeting, and ensure that your business isn't just surviving—it's thriving, no matter what the future holds.
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