In addition, we will share valuable insights into how Kaseya VSA, a unified remote monitoring and management solution (RMM), can enhance your virtual desktop experience. Stay tuned to discover how, with VSA in your arsenal, you can effortlessly navigate through the virtual desktop space, experiencing unmatched control and optimization. Let’s dive in!

What is a virtual desktop? 

A virtual desktop is an online desktop environment that mimics the nature and characteristics of a physical desktop. Users don’t have to lug around their work laptops wherever they go. Rather, they can access their virtual desktop environment, complete with work applications and operating systems, from any device at hand. It’s like being able to access your email from any device till you have your login credentials and a functioning internet connection.

Businesses use virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) or desktop virtualization software to create, deploy and manage multiple virtual desktop instances. These instances are hosted on remote servers or virtual machines, allowing users to access them remotely using an internet connection.  

Virtual desktops are more secure than traditional desktop solutions since they don’t require users to install any software on their device. They also provide higher performance and scalability, allowing users to access their desktops from any device. Virtual desktops also reduce operational costs as they require less hardware and maintenance.

Why are virtual desktops important 

Virtual desktops can transform an organization and the job of IT professionals in a number of positive ways. Implementing a VDI translates to enhanced business efficiency, substantial cost savings and improved customer satisfaction. A surge in demand for employee efficiency and enhanced data security is expected to drive growth in the VDI industry, which is projected to reach 19.8 billion in 2031.  

The ability to centralize desktop management streamlines IT operations, reducing the burden of traditional endpoint management. This not only results in financial benefits but also liberates IT professionals to focus on strategic initiatives, fostering innovation within the organization.

Financially, virtual desktops contribute to substantial savings by optimizing hardware resources, reducing maintenance costs and enabling a bring-your-own-device (BYOD) strategy. Enabling employees to access their desktop environments seamlessly from any location enhances business agility and responsiveness. This improved efficiency and flexibility directly contribute to heightened customer satisfaction.

Here are some key benefits of virtual desktops:

• Business applications: For businesses, setting up virtual desktop environments eliminates the need to purchase and maintain physical hardware, resulting in lower upfront costs and reduced long-term maintenance costs.
• Security considerations: As virtual desktop data is stored centrally, it makes it easier for technicians to secure and manage it. Since each instance is an independent instance, no user can access the data of any other instance. This further strengthens security as it prevents attackers from gaining access to the entire system in case one instance is compromised.
• Cost-efficiency and resource optimization: Virtual desktop environments are becoming the preferred choice for businesses looking for a secure, scalable and cost-effective solution. These platforms are also more energy-efficient than traditional desktops since they require less power to run. Furthermore, they utilize existing infrastructure, resulting in lower hardware costs.
• Integration with cloud services: Virtual desktops enable organizations and users to create easy collaborative workflows on the cloud and drive more efficiency.
• Future trends and innovations: With developments in technology, virtual desktops are only set to get better with new features and capabilities that will make the computing experience all the more powerful.
• Flexibility and remote work: Moreover, virtual desktops are scalable, allowing businesses to quickly add new users or applications when needed.

How does a virtual desktop work? 

In this section, we will broadly cover the steps involved in setting up virtual desktops. We will start by describing the necessary hardware and software requirements and also cover the installation and configuration process. 

Installation of a hypervisor

Hypervisors or virtual machine monitors (VMM) are software solutions that facilitate the creation, configuration and monitoring of virtual desktops on a server or in the cloud. Like any other software, hypervisors can be installed directly on hardware like a server or on an operating system. Once installed, it takes control of the hardware resources, such as CPU, memory and storage, and allocates them to VMs. Hypervisors also provide security features such as encryption, access control and authentication.

Creating and configuring VMs

Once installed, a hypervisor can create multiple virtual machines on a single instance of a physical machine, enabling more efficient use of resources. It then allocates resources, such as CPU, memory, virtual processors and storage, to each VM. Once this is done, users can install an operating system and necessary applications, after which the VM is ready for use.
 
Accessing VMs

Users initiate access to their virtual desktops using a client application installed on their devices. This client then establishes a connection with the server hosting the virtual machine (VM)/virtual desktops. The interaction between the user’s device and the virtualized desktop involves data transfer, display rendering and input commands. To facilitate this communication seamlessly, remote access protocols like Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) come into play. These protocols ensure efficient and responsive communication between the client device and the VM, ensuring that users experience a smooth and reliable virtual desktop environment.

Managing VMs

Administrators centrally manage virtual desktops, making updates, backups and security measures a breeze. Furthermore, hypervisors play a key role in isolating virtual desktops from both each other and the underlying hardware to enhance security and stability. This isolation ensures that any issues or disruptions in one virtual desktop won’t affect others or compromise the overall system. Additionally, hypervisors offer the handy feature of creating snapshots, allowing users to easily restore virtual desktops to a previous state when needed. This flexibility aligns seamlessly with the dynamic requirements of businesses, where virtual desktops can be rapidly deployed and scaled up or down based on operational demands.

Benefits of virtual desktop 

Virtual desktops make IT management easier by allowing for quick deployment of standardized environments and reducing the need for hardware. In these contexts, desktop virtualization improves flexibility, security and resource utilization.

Enhanced flexibility: Virtual desktops offer enhanced flexibility to end users, allowing them to access their setup from any device and location without a hassle. This is a great fit for remote workers who need to maintain productivity while on the move or collaborate across geographically dispersed teams.

Centralized management: Since virtual desktops are hosted on a server, technicians can update and patch all virtual desktops uniformly from one location. This centralized control allows for efficient monitoring, troubleshooting and maintenance of virtual desktops, streamlining IT administration. By establishing a uniform configuration for all virtual desktops, IT teams can ensure system reliability and greatly reduce complexity.

Security advantage: Virtual desktop environments offer top-notch security features, such as data centralization, encryption and access control, which minimizes the likelihood of your data being lost or compromised by hackers. With access strictly controlled, you can rest assured that your sensitive information is well-protected.

Cost-efficiency and resource optimization: By leveraging hardware more effectively, virtual desktops contribute to cost-efficiency and resource optimization. Through server virtualization, multiple desktops can run on a single physical server, reducing the need for extensive hardware infrastructure. This optimization not only cuts down on initial hardware costs but also lowers ongoing maintenance expenses. 

Scalability and business agility: The scalability inherent in virtual desktop environments enables the swift provisioning of new desktop instances or the decommissioning of existing ones. This adaptability proves crucial for businesses with dynamic needs, ensuring that IT infrastructure can efficiently scale up or down without significant disruptions. Essentially, the scalability of virtual desktops directly enhances business agility. It enables companies to align IT resources with evolving demands, seizing opportunities in the marketplace without being hindered by rigid infrastructure limitations.

Disaster recovery and business continuity: In the event of hardware failures or disasters, the centralized nature of virtual desktop infrastructure allows for quick and efficient recovery. Since desktop environments are stored and managed centrally, organizations can rapidly restore services by provisioning virtual desktops on alternate hardware or in the cloud. In the face of unforeseen events, virtual desktops contribute to business continuity by providing a resilient IT infrastructure that can swiftly adapt to disruptions, allowing employees to continue working with minimal interruption. 

VDI is a desktop virtualization technology designed to assist companies in establishing and maintaining resilient virtual desktop environments for their employees or clients. Prior to embarking on the setup of virtual desktops, it’s imperative to comprehend the fundamentals of VDI. Our blog, VDI: Your Gateway to Anytime, Anywhere Virtual Desktops, provides comprehensive information and insights that will help you implement virtual desktops easily.

Different types of virtual desktops 

There are several types of virtual desktop infrastructures designed to meet the varying needs of users and organizations. In this section, we will look at the range of virtual desktops that organizations can use to customize their virtualization policies and meet their goals.

Hosted virtual desktops 

Hosted virtual desktops involve the hosting of desktop environments on remote servers. This model offers centralized management, scalability and reduced hardware requirements. Users access their desktops from various devices while IT administrators benefit from streamlined maintenance and resource allocation.

Virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) 

VDI employs centralized server infrastructure to run virtual machines, providing individualized desktop experiences. Resource optimization is a key benefit, allowing efficient utilization of hardware resources. VDI enhances scalability and simplifies desktop management, making it an attractive solution for organizations.

Desktop-as-a-Service (DaaS) 

DaaS delivers virtual desktops over the Internet as a service, offering flexibility, cost-efficiency and ease of management. Users can access desktops from anywhere, and organizations benefit from reduced infrastructure costs and simplified administration.

Remote desktop services (RDS) 

RDS, exemplified by Microsoft’s solution, facilitates remote access to desktop environments. It enhances collaboration and provides a platform for scalable virtual desktop delivery, catering to the needs of modern workplaces.

Application virtualization 

Application virtualization separates applications from the underlying operating system. This approach enhances compatibility, simplifies updates and allows for efficient management of diverse application landscapes within the virtual desktop environment.

Cloud-based virtual desktops 

Cloud-based virtual desktops offer flexibility and scalability. Integration with cloud services enhances accessibility, allowing users to benefit from virtual desktops regardless of their physical location.

Bare-metal hypervisors 

Bare-metal hypervisors operate directly on hardware, optimizing resource utilization in virtual desktop environments. This approach provides efficient performance and responsiveness, making it a foundational element in many virtual desktop deployments.

Containerized desktops 

Containerized desktop solutions, reflecting emerging trends, leverage containerization technologies. Containerized desktops also provide greater security, with containers providing a secure barrier between the underlying operating system and the application. It allows for faster deployment of applications, as well as better scalability and reliability. This system offers lightweight and scalable virtual desktop instances, aligning with the modern need for flexibility and efficiency in computing environments.

Check out our informative whitepaper, Remote Desktop Management: Resolve Issues Quickly, to uncover what makes VSA the fastest, most reliable remote management solution in the industry. IT professionals can access and manage computers, including virtual desktops, from anywhere instantaneously with extraordinary reliability, even over high-latency networks.

What to look for in a virtual desktop solution? 

When diving into the realm of virtual desktop solutions, several key considerations can make or break your experience. This list is by no means exhaustive, but it will give you an idea of what to look for.  

• Performance metrics: First and foremost, performance metrics are critical. You need to be sure that the virtual desktop solution you choose is capable of meeting your expectations in terms of speed, stability and reliability.
• Security features: Look for features like robust encryption, access controls and threat detection to ensure your virtual desktop environment remains a fortress against cyberthreats.
• Scalability and flexibility: You want a solution that not only meets your current needs but can adapt and scale as your organization grows.
• User experience enhancements: Choosing a solution that empowers your team by providing a smooth, intuitive interface that boosts productivity is vital.
• Integration with existing infrastructure: Integration with existing infrastructure is a game-changer. Compatibility with your current tools and systems ensures a seamless transition and avoids unnecessary disruptions.
• Cost considerations: Cost considerations should go beyond the initial investment – assess long-term expenses, including maintenance, support and potential hidden costs.
• Vendor reputation and support: Vendor reputation and support can’t be overstated. Look for a provider with a solid track record and responsive support services.     
• Trial and evaluation: Trial and evaluation periods are your chance to test drive a solution.
• Industry-specific considerations: For industry-specific considerations, think about regulations and compliance. Does the solution meet the specific requirements of your sector?
• User training and adoption: User training and adoption are often overlooked but are critical for a successful implementation. Ensure the solution is user-friendly and that your team receives adequate training.

We can’t stress enough that Kaseya VSA 10 is the one and only unified remote monitoring and management (RMM) solution that lets you manage your whole universe of devices in a way where each device is treated as first class, including your VMs. The scope and capabilities of VSA are so vast that it’s impossible to put all of them down here. That’s why we have compiled The Ultimate RMM Buyer’s Guide, which will give you all the information you need to make an informed decision.

How can Kaseya help you with virtual desktop

When it comes to managing virtual systems, VSA offers unmatched speed and efficiency. Ahead of its time, it’s designed to help you easily discover, map and monitor virtual environments while providing increased security and scalability.

VSA connects directly to the hypervisor and offers a single, consolidated view of your entire virtual infrastructure across multiple platforms. You can create a new Connector for each Hyper-V and VMware hypervisor you wish to manage and view and manage all your virtual devices on a convenient topography map.

The beauty of VSA lies in its capacity to streamline operations, regardless of the number of endpoints or the nature of your IT infrastructure. Recognizing the pivotal role costs play in the success or failure of a business, we have priced VSA at 30% less than other solutions in the market. These cost savings show up in the top and bottom lines, resulting in a healthier financial outlook for your business. Before investing, you can initiate a 14-day free trial to assess how well VSA fits into your environment. Ready to transform your IT operations? Book your free demo today!

The post What Is a Virtual Desktop? appeared first on Kaseya.

In this blog, we’ll delve into the advantages of the cloud and why it has become an indispensable tool for organizations of all sizes and across sectors. Before we discuss its benefits, let’s first understand the cloud, its infrastructure and different cloud service and deployment models.

What is the cloud?

The cloud or cloud computing is a global network of distributed servers hosting software and infrastructure accessed over the internet. It enables organizations to operate efficiently without needing any extensive internal infrastructure. With the cloud, users and organizations can access the same files and applications from almost any device since the computing and storage take place on servers in a data center instead of locally on the user device or in-house servers.

For instance, users can access their Instagram account and emails with all their files and conversation history from a new device, all virtue of the cloud. As cloud vendors update and maintain the servers themselves, cloud computing is one of the most cost-efficient solutions for organizations, helping them save significantly on IT costs and overheads.

How does cloud computing work?

Cloud computing leverages virtualization technology that enables the creation of digital entities called virtual machines. These virtual machines emulate the behavior of physical computers, existing harmoniously on a shared host machine yet maintaining strict isolation from one another.

The virtual machines also efficiently use the hardware hosting them, giving a single server the ability to run many virtual servers. This transforms data centers into highly efficient hubs capable of serving multiple organizations concurrently at a remarkably economical cost. The efficiency also extends to the reliability of cloud services since cloud service providers back up their services on multiple machines across multiple regions to guarantee uninterrupted service delivery.

Navigating the cloud is a seamless experience for users, accomplished through the sophisticated gateways of browsers or applications, regardless of their device. Many elements work in tandem to ensure seamless cloud navigation experience for users. Here are some of the core components of the cloud that help it operate like well-oiled machinery.

Cloud infrastructure

Four integral elements define the backbone of cloud infrastructure:

• Servers: Servers are the core of cloud infrastructure, acting as the computational engines that process and deliver data, applications and services. The servers ensure an efficient allocation of computing resources to support diverse user needs.
• Storage: Cloud storage acts as a dynamic repository, offering scalable and resilient solutions for data management. From documents to multimedia, this cloud component delivers data integrity and accessibility, providing a robust foundation for information storage.
• Networking: Networking ensures seamless communication between servers, devices and users and helps establish the pathways for secure and swift data transfer.
• Virtualization: Virtualization optimizes the usage of hardware resources through virtual machines. The virtual machines ensure efficient utilization, enhance flexibility, and guarantee isolation and security within the cloud infrastructure.

The cloud services come with different service and deployment models, each tailored for specific organizational needs. Let’s unravel their distinct purposes and explore their roles in enhancing organizational efficiency.

Cloud service models

Cloud computing generally comes in one of three fundamental service models: Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS), Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) or Software-as-a-Service (SaaS).

Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS)

IaaS provides a foundational layer in which the cloud services provider manages the computing resources, including servers, storage, networking infrastructure and virtualization. It eliminates the need for enterprises to procure, configure or manage infrastructure themselves and pay only for the services they use.

Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS)

PaaS is a complete development and deployment cloud service model that offers a comprehensive platform, including the hardware and the underlying software stack. Along with the computing resources of IaaS, PaaS also offers middleware, development tools, business intelligence (BI) services, database management systems and more. It allows users to focus on developing and deploying applications without concerning themselves with the intricacies of the infrastructure or software updates.

Software-as-a-Service (SaaS)

SaaS delivers fully developed applications over the internet, eliminating the need for users to install, maintain or manage the software locally. The SaaS model allows easy access to a wide range of applications, from productivity tools to enterprise software, without the burden of handling underlying infrastructure or software maintenance. It promotes accessibility, collaboration and scalability, allowing organizations to quickly get up and running with an app at minimal upfront cost.

Specialized cloud services

Along with the basic cloud service models, some specialized cloud services offer distinctive features. Here are some of them:

• Function-as-a-Service (FaaS) or Serverless Computing: FaaS provides a platform that allows users to execute code in response to specific events without managing the complex infrastructure typically associated with building and launching microservices applications.
• Container-as-a-Service (CaaS): In the CaaS service model, the cloud service provider offers a platform for deploying, managing and scaling containerized applications. It simplifies the orchestration of containers for the users, enhancing efficiency and portability in application development.
• Database-as-a-Service (DBaaS): DBaaS offers fully managed database solutions that allow organizations to focus on data-driven applications without the burden of database maintenance.
• Storage-as-a-Service (StaaS): StaaS delivers a flexible and cost-effective alternative to traditional on-premises storage systems through scalable and managed storage solutions.
• AI-as-a-Service (AIaaS) and Machine Learning-as-a-Service (MLaaS): AIaaS and MLaaS empower organizations with access to artificial intelligence and machine learning capabilities, allowing them to leverage advanced analytics without any extensive in-house expertise.

Cloud deployment models

There are various cloud deployment models that cater to diverse organizational needs. Here are some of the most common deployment models:

Public cloud

The public cloud is a globally accessible and shared infrastructure offered by third-party providers over the public internet. This model is ideal for startups and businesses with fluctuating workloads due to its scalability, cost-effectiveness and on-demand resource allocation.

Private cloud

Private clouds are dedicated environments exclusive to a single organization. They offer heightened control, security and customization, making them suitable for industries with stringent compliance regulations or enterprises handling sensitive data.

Hybrid cloud

The hybrid cloud deployment model is an amalgamation of both public and private cloud components. The model enables organizations to leverage the flexibility of the public cloud for non-sensitive operations while keeping critical data within the secure confines of a private cloud. The hybrid cloud suits businesses with dynamic workloads and diverse infrastructure needs.

Multicloud

Multicloud deployment involves utilizing services from multiple cloud providers to achieve flexibility, cost savings and reduced risk. This model is ideal for enterprises seeking a diversified and resilient cloud infrastructure.

Community cloud

Community clouds are a collaborative model in which infrastructure is shared between several with common objectives, such as security, compliance and jurisdiction. This deployment model fosters collaboration and resource optimization and is appropriate for organizations working on a similar project, research topic or application.

With the emergence of the modern cloud in the early 2000s, it gained widespread popularity among businesses of all sizes. Most businesses quickly joined the cloud bandwagon, recognizing its importance in fast-tracking their digital transformation journey.

Now, let’s take a look at some of the reasons for the proliferation of cloud computing.

Why do we need cloud computing?

Cloud computing allows organizations to transcend physical barriers and access computing resources on a scale, revolutionizing traditional IT infrastructures. This flexibility allows enterprises to seamlessly scale operations up or down, according to market dynamics.

Moreover, with data and applications residing in a centralized, easily accessible location, teams dispersed across departments and geographical boundaries seamlessly collaborate in real-time. As knowledge and insights flow freely, unhampered by physical constraints, it enhances productivity and fosters a culture of innovation.

Let’s explore the diverse applications of cloud computing and how they play a pivotal role in optimizing operations and fostering innovation for organizations.

Uses of cloud computing

Here are some use cases of cloud computing for modern businesses:

• Data storage and processing: Cloud computing provides a scalable and cost-effective data storage system made accessible by a web services API. It allows organizations to efficiently manage and process vast amounts of data without the constraints of on-premises infrastructure.
• Big data analytics: With enormous processing power and scalability, the cloud has revolutionized big data analytics. Organizations leverage cloud platforms to analyze complex data sets and make data-driven, informed decisions.
• Data backup and archiving: The cloud facilitates seamless data backup and archiving, ensuring integrity and real-time data availability. This eliminates the risk of data loss and provides a reliable mechanism for long-term data retention.
• Business continuity and disaster recovery (BCDR): Cloud computing serves as a robust foundation for business continuity and disaster recovery strategies for organizations. It continually captures any changes to the data and transfers it to the disaster recovery server, ensuring rapid recovery in the event of disruptions or disasters.
• Remote work and collaboration: Cloud computing allows remote workers to access their work files and applications from anywhere, fostering flexibility and collaboration among geographically dispersed teams.
• Testing and development: Cloud platforms offer an agile environment for testing and development of applications. It enables developers to access resources on-demand, experiment with different configurations and deploy applications swiftly.

As the cloud operates through many interconnected networks, it raises security concerns among organizations, with cyberthreats at an all-time high. However, the cloud’s adaptive security protocols ensure that businesses can confidently navigate the digital terrain without compromising the integrity of their data. Let’s understand how the cloud safeguards an organization’s data.

Cloud security

Cloud service providers set an unparalleled standard for safeguarding sensitive data and ensuring the integrity of digital landscapes. They employ a multilayered approach, integrating robust encryption protocols, multifactor authentication and stringent access controls to fortify the confidentiality and integrity of stored data.

Moreover, cloud service providers also adhere to compliance regulations, perform security audits and monitor mechanisms regularly to identify and address any vulnerabilities. With these robust security controls, organizations can confidently entrust the cloud with their critical application, a boon in today’s ever-evolving threat landscape.

With many benefits, adopting cloud computing has become imperative for organizations seeking to thrive in the competitive business landscape. Let’s look at some of the ways cloud computing has impacted businesses.

Cloud computing in business

The inherent value of cloud computing lies in its capacity to transcend traditional constraints, adapt swiftly to market dynamics and optimize operational costs. It propels organizations’ digital transformation journey by unlocking new avenues for innovation, facilitating seamless scalability and helping them navigate future uncertainties with resilience and efficiency.

What are examples of cloud computing in business?

Here are some industry-wise instances of the efficiency of cloud computing:

• Healthcare: Cloud computing has revolutionized healthcare by enabling healthcare providers to leverage cloud platforms for data analytics, facilitating personalized treatments and improving patient care. Telemedicine services have especially witnessed exponential growth by adopting cloud computing, which has ensured broader accessibility of healthcare resources.
• Finance: Cloud computing has helped the financial sector streamline operations and enhance data security. Many financial institutions utilize the cloud for real-time data analytics, fraud detection and risk management. The innovative features of the cloud allow the industry to offer new services and products to customers at a rapid pace.
• E-commerce: E-commerce platforms use cloud-based analytics to understand customer behavior, optimize inventory management and deliver personalized recommendations, enhancing customer satisfaction and retention. It also helps them handle fluctuating workloads, ensuring seamless shopping experiences during peak times.
• Education: Cloud computing has transformed education by facilitating online learning platforms, collaboration tools and resource sharing. Several educational institutions utilize cloud-based services to efficiently manage student data, virtual classrooms and collaborative research projects.

Take advantage of cloud computing with Kaseya

While the benefits of the cloud are aplenty, its management can be arduous if you still rely on traditional endpoint management solutions. In order to leverage the cloud services to the fullest, your IT team needs an advanced endpoint management system that ensures seamless management of diverse cloud-based environments in a single UI.

With Kaseya VSA, you can automate the discovery of all endpoints and network devices, including virtual hosts and virtual machines. VSA is a next-generation, unified RMM solution that maximizes IT operational efficiency with complete IT asset discovery, monitoring and management. It gives you the visibility and functionality you need to manage all of IT in a single UI.

To learn more about Kaseya VSA, Request your demo today!

The post What Is Cloud Computing? Services, Types, Advantages and Use Cases appeared first on Kaseya.

That’s why businesses need Disaster Recovery-as-a-service (DRaaS) to back up their mission-critical data and emerge unscathed should a disaster occur. In this blog, we’ll provide comprehensive insights into DRaaS, its significance, benefits and implementation.

What is Disaster Recovery-as-a-Service (DRaaS)?

DRaaS is a cloud computing model that simplifies disaster recovery for organizations. It enables them to securely back up their data and IT systems in a third-party cloud environment. In this as-a-service model, organizations don’t need to own and manage all the resources for disaster recovery themselves; instead, the third-party service provider takes care of all disaster recovery coordination. In essence, DRaaS is a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solution that ensures quick access and functionality restoration for IT infrastructure for an organization in the event of a disaster.

Many types of disaster recovery solutions are available in the market, such as Backup-as-a-Service (BaaS), disaster recovery and Disaster Recovery-as-a-Service, and users often confuse them with each other. That’s why understanding the difference between these recovery solutions before implementing one for your business is critical.

What is the difference between DR and DRaaS?

While DR and DRaaS have the same end goal, they differ in ownership, deployment, management, cost, scalability and testing. In DR, organizations own and manage their disaster recovery infrastructure, which typically involves substantial upfront and ongoing costs. On the other hand, DRaaS relies on third-party cloud resources and follows a subscription-based model with predictable expenses.

Moreover, DR requires in-house expertise for setup and maintenance, while third-party DRaaS providers handle much of the management. DRaaS also facilitates automated testing and maintenance, simplifying verification of recovery readiness.

What is the difference between BaaS and DRaaS?

BaaS is a fully managed enterprise cloud backup service that primarily focuses on safeguarding critical data, offering scheduled backups and facilitating recovery of individual files or data points in the event of full or partial data loss. It is designed for cost-efficient, long-term and off-site data retention, and is ideal for businesses looking to protect specific data without extensive system recovery needs.

In contrast, DRaaS encompasses comprehensive system recovery, including applications, infrastructure and data. It focuses on rapidly restoring entire IT systems and services, ensuring seamless business continuity after disasters or significant outages.

How does DRaaS work?

Instead of using the organization’s physical location that owns the workload, DRaaS replicates and hosts servers in a third-party vendor’s facilities. Once a disaster strikes and shuts down a customer’s site, the DR plan seamlessly activates within the vendor’s facilities, ensuring minimal downtime and data loss.

A DRaaS provider also continuously monitors the health of an organization’s primary and secondary environments to identify and address any discrepancies or potential issues promptly. DRaaS is also cost-efficient for organizations, with payment options ranging from traditional subscriptions to a pay-as-you-go model.

Now that you know how DRaaS works, and if you’re looking to implement it, you should look at options that suit your business requirements.

What are the different types of DRaaS?

DRaaS primarily comes in three varieties. Each type of DRaaS provides unique advantages, catering to organizations with varying levels of technical expertise and control preferences. Let’s drill into these options, what they offer and points to consider with each approach.

Self-service DRaaS

Self-service DRaaS is for tech-savvy organizations with in-house IT expertise that want complete control over their disaster recovery strategy. While it is the most cost-efficient and flexible option, you are entirely on your own when planning, testing and managing your disaster recovery strategies.

Assisted DRaaS

Assisted DRaaS is for organizations that want to strike a balance between user control and provider support. In this model, organizations share some disaster recovery responsibilities. Assisted DRaaS providers offer expertise in designing, planning and implementing disaster recovery strategies, helping organizations make informed decisions.

Managed DRaaS

Managed DRaaS is a fully outsourced solution where the service provider assumes end-to-end responsibility for the disaster recovery process, from planning and testing to executing the recovery plan and ongoing maintenance. It is an excellent choice for organizations that do not possess in-house IT expertise or prefer a hassle-free, turnkey solution.

What are the benefits of DRaaS?

A quality DRaaS solution brings many advantages and benefits to an organization’s data resilience. Here are a few ways in which organizations benefit most:

• Faster recovery: One of the most significant advantages of DRaaS is its ability to minimize downtime once a disaster strikes. With automated failover processes and third-party vendor facilities in place, DRaaS providers allow businesses to switch to a backup environment swiftly, keeping critical systems and applications running without disruption.
• Cost efficiency: DRaaS eliminates the need for upfront capital expenses for infrastructure and applications. It operates on a subscription-based or pay-as-you-go model, making it a cost-effective solution for businesses of all sizes.
• Resource optimization: DRaaS leverages cloud-based resource efficiency to reduce operational overhead and automate resource management, streamlining disaster recovery processes. Organizations leveraging DRaaS can optimize resource allocation, cut costs and focus on core business functions.
• Scalability: DRaaS solutions adapt to an organization’s specific needs, whether to protect a single application or the entire IT infrastructure, ensuring optimal flexibility and scalability.
• Streamlined compliance: DRaaS centralizes disaster recovery planning and execution, which helps streamline compliance. It also simplifies compliance reporting through automated documentation and audit trails.
• Enhanced security: DRaaS providers often employ robust encryption and security protocols to safeguard an organization’s data during backup and recovery processes, reducing the risk of data breaches.

Is DRaaS suitable for your organization?

While DRaaS is a versatile solution suitable for any organization committed to maintaining business continuity and data resilience, it is especially beneficial for smaller businesses with limited IT resources. It allows small businesses to get cost-effective and hassle-free disaster recovery solutions and ensure business continuity.

However, selecting the right DRaaS provider is crucial for organizations since offerings and costs vary. That’s why choosing the solution that best fits your business requirements is essential.

Key considerations when choosing a DRaaS solution

Every organization should assess its recovery objectives and align them with the capabilities of the DRaaS solution. Here are some of the factors that will help you make an informed decision when choosing the right DRaaS solution for your organization:

• Service level agreements (SLAs): You should scrutinize the SLAs to understand recovery time objectives (RTOs) and recovery point objectives (RPOs) offered by the provider. For instance, you should contemplate what happens to recovery times when the same natural disaster impacts both you and the DRaaS provider. You should also verify whether the provider can meet the recovery-time requirements of your critical applications.
• Responsibility and reliability: Before investing in the DRaaS solution, you should clearly understand the responsibilities between your organization and the DRaaS provider. Also, verify that the provider’s track record and reputation for reliability meet your organization’s expectations.
• Recovery testing: Recovery testing is a critical aspect of DRaaS, which involves regularly simulating disaster scenarios to evaluate the effectiveness of the recovery plan. By conducting recovery testing, organizations can identify potential weaknesses, refine their strategies and ensure that data and systems can be restored within acceptable timeframes. Assessing the DRaaS provider’s support for recovery testing is essential to ensure they deliver on their promises when disaster strikes.
• Recovery capacity: Determine the provider’s capability to handle your organization’s data and system recovery needs, especially if your infrastructure is extensive. Also, ensure scalability to accommodate your future growth.
• License structure and costs: Note the provider’s pricing model. Check whether it is subscription-based, pay-as-you-go or another structure, and evaluate whether it aligns with your budget and needs. Be aware of any hidden or additional costs.

Get DRaaS with IT Complete by Kaseya

Kaseya’s IT Complete offers DRaaS, which is integrated directly into our endpoint management solution, VSA, allowing you to streamline your disaster recovery strategy through a centralized console. With Kaseya’s DRaaS, you get round-the-clock uptime and the world’s best backup, ransomware protection, cloud-based storage and business continuity and disaster recovery (BCDR) services at minimal service delivery costs.

Here are some features of Kaseya’s DRaaS:

• Instant recovery
• Automated disaster recovery testing and RPO/RTO reports
• SLA Policy Automation
• Near continuous data protection
• Intuitive, centralized user interface
• Automatic ransomware protection
• Immutable cloud
• 24/7/365 support
• And many more

Learn more about DRaaS with IT Complete’s Unified Backup suite.

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When you think about any crime, generally, criminals choose the path of least resistance. The path that gets them in and out without being noticed or leaving evidence behind. Cybercriminals are no different. Once they locate their target, hackers use easy-to-deploy tactics that can fly under the radar. They hope to get in, exfiltrate data, and leave without a trace before the enterprise realizes they’ve been breached. As NextGen AV and EDR solutions have evolved to better respond to malware, more and more cybercriminals are performing living off the land (LOTL) attacks instead.  

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Consider this — there were 31,000 ransomware attacks per day on small and midsize businesses (SMBs) in 2021. In just the first half of 2022, there were a total of 236.1 million ransomware attacks worldwide. We haven’t even touched on the actual damage yet. A ransomware attack can set you back by a whopping $1.8 million, and recovery can take up to 256 days.

In this environment, installing antivirus software and hoping for the best is not enough. To ensure business continuity and data security, businesses must implement a layered cybersecurity framework that includes both RMM (remote monitoring and management) and BCDR (business continuity and disaster recovery) solutions.

You can protect your business against cyberthreats by choosing Kaseya VSA and Datto BCDR as your first and last lines of defense. Kaseya has spent the last two quarters building IT Complete, integrating Kaseya VSA with Datto’s BCDR suite of solutions to provide you with full cybersecurity coverage.

RMM as your first line of defense

Kaseya VSA is a powerful RMM tool with features like real-time monitoring as well as patch and asset management that form the foundation of security. It helps organizations identify and respond to potential threats quickly and effectively by providing a central point of visibility and control. By continuously monitoring devices and systems for signs of malicious activity, VSA can help to identify potential threats early on. Here’s how VSA protects you:

Automate patching

Patching is a critical step in maintaining the security of systems and networks. Unfortunately, it can take up time and become monotonous when done manually. Automating patching makes the process faster and more efficient, ensuring systems remain up to date with the latest security fixes and vulnerabilities get remediated at the earliest. The security benefits of automating patching are:

• Quickly remediate vulnerabilities: By automatically applying security updates, you can reduce the window of opportunity for hackers and mitigate the risk of exploits wreaking havoc.
• More system uptime: As IT processes become increasingly integrated, a glitch in one application can disrupt an entire integration workflow. Timely patching ensures applications continue to work without a hitch, leading to more system uptime. As a result, productivity increases and revenue goes up.
• Avoiding non-compliance penalties: Another key reason to apply patches is to help maintain regulatory or insurance compliance. Several compliance standards and most IT insurance policies require regularly updating software. Failure to comply can lead to audits, fines and even denial of insurance claims in case of a breach.

24/7 monitoring

To be fully prepared for threats, you have to monitor all the devices on the network, from firewalls and switches to routers and even printers, not just servers and workstations. Using an RMM like VSA, you can monitor your entire network remotely and troubleshoot any anomalies without ever leaving your desk. By monitoring for signs of files being encrypted or boot files being altered, it is possible to spot an attack early and avoid it. Additionally, it helps ensure backups are not deleted and additional RMM agents not installed.

Ransomware detection

The impact of a ransomware attack is, at best, budget-destroying and, more likely, business-destroying. VSA provides an extra layer of security with a native Ransomware Detection function to prevent data loss and minimize the impact of an attack. It monitors crypto-ransomware presence on endpoints using behavioral analysis of files and alerts you when a device is infected. Once detected, VSA’s native ransomware detection module automatically quarantines any infected endpoint to prevent the spread of ransomware.

VSA’s ransomware detection functionality helps users:

• Monitor for ransomware at scale
• Receive immediate notification when ransomware is detected
• Prevent the spread of ransomware through network isolation
• Remediate issues remotely
• Recover with Continuity products, which include Datto BCDR

Configuration hardening

Configuration hardening involves securing a system by reducing its attack surface, making it extremely difficult for hackers to exploit vulnerabilities. Closing unneeded ports and removing unnecessary software can help reduce the risk of attack, as now there are fewer potential entry points for an attacker. A properly configured firewall and authentication settings allow only authorized personnel to access sensitive data and systems. Moreover, two-factor authentication adds an additional layer of security by requiring users to provide two forms of identification before accessing data or systems.

BCDR as your last line of defense

Despite your best efforts, a ransomware attack may still occur. According to the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency, about 40% to 60% of small businesses that shut down never reopen. What can you do to avoid damage?

A reliable backup solution is crucial to staying compliant, overcoming security breaches and operating a business smoothly. The purpose of backup and disaster recovery is to undo the worst-case scenario from taking hold while ensuring the safety and integrity of business-critical data. If an endpoint gets infected, you can restore it to a non-infected version. BCDR solutions also help organizations improve productivity by preventing or mitigating the effects of bad patches that vendors roll out.

Datto’s BCDR suite of solutions helps organizations minimize disruptions and ensure business continuity by providing a comprehensive and coordinated approach to disaster recovery.

Benefits of VSA and Datto BCDR integration

Thanks to the seamless integration between VSA and Datto BCDR, IT professionals can have better control over their security management process. Here are the benefits:

• Integrating top RMM and BCDR solutions will enable technicians to perform backup and recovery tasks more efficiently and quickly. The integration will also provide a complete picture of an organization’s backup and recovery environment, making it easier to plan for and manage contingencies.
• With a recession looming on the horizon, it is critical to improve efficiency to decrease costs and boost the bottom line. Data silos and application switching are kryptonite to operational efficiency. Integrated workflows also allow information from one application to be readily available in another. It avoids time wasted looking for information and helps speed up task execution, such as IT incident resolution leading to more system uptime.
• Techs can save time by deploying and verifying Datto Continuity agents while using VSA. Admins can monitor BCDR devices for availability and successful completion of backup operations.
• Directly link into Datto backup appliances from VSA to perform routine tasks such as device configuration, scheduling backups, restoring an endpoint and managing alerts.

Once again, Kaseya and Datto prove they’re better together by empowering MSPs to manage, configure and automate backup from VSA.

Manage IT assets and your hybrid environment with Kaseya VSA

Kaseya VSA is a next-generation, unified RMM solution that maximizes IT operational efficiency with complete IT asset discovery, monitoring and management. It gives you the visibility and functionality you need to manage all IT in a single UI. If your endpoint management solution doesn’t make managing backups a breeze, it’s time to upgrade. Request your demo today!

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MSP customers – and their customers’ customers – have seen enough headlines about security breaches to realize the problem is widespread. Nearly everyone has received worried emails advocating immediate password changes and free credit monitoring services, breaking the illusion that this only happens to other people and that, instead, it’s more likely just a matter of time until a breach hits them even closer to home.

But data privacy and data security aren’t the same thing, however often these terms get used interchangeably. Temporarily removing “data” from the phrase, it’s clear that these labels have quite different meanings.

“Privacy” is about keeping others from seeing your stuff. We close our window shades and put in our earbuds when we don’t want the rest of the world to know what we’re up to, creating a few barriers for the Peeping Tom and the overeager eavesdropper. But privacy doesn’t necessarily promise true protection from more inspired snoopers actively seeking this data.

“Security,” on the other hand, is about true defensive protection. It is not just designed to dissuade the casual interloper, but rather to actively defend against bad actors intentionally accessing things they shouldn’t get their hands on. It’s the keypad to enter the elevator and the armored truck ferrying cash to the bank.

Read the complete blog post at Channel Futures.

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What Is High Availability?

It is a concept that involves the elimination of single points of failure to make sure that if one of the elements, such as a server, fails, the service is still available. High availability is often synonymous with high-availability systems, high-availability environments or high-availability servers. High availability enables your IT infrastructure to continue functioning even when some of its components fail.  

High availability is of great significance for mission-critical systems, where a service disruption may lead to adverse business impact, resulting in additional expenses or financial losses. Although high availability does not eliminate the threat of service disruption, it ensures that the IT team has taken all the necessary steps to ensure business continuity. 

In a nutshell, high availability implies there is no single point of failure. Everything from load balancer, firewall and router, to reverse proxy and monitory systems, is completely redundant at both network as well as application level, guaranteeing the highest level of service availability. 

Why Is High Availability Important? 

Regardless of what caused it, downtime can have majorly adverse effects on your business health. As such, IT teams constantly strive to take suitable measures to minimize downtime and ensure system availability at all times. The impact of downtime can manifest in multiple different ways including lost productivity, lost business opportunities, lost data and damaged brand image.

As such, the costs associated with downtime can range from a slight budget imbalance to a major dent in your pocket. However, avoiding downtime is just of several reasons why you need high availability. Some of the other reasons are: 

Keeping up with your SLAs – Maintaining uptime is a primary requisite for MSPs to ensure high-quality service delivery to their clients. High-availability systems help MSPs adhere to their SLAs 100% of the time and ensure that their client’s network does not go down.

Fostering customer relationships – Frequent business disruptions due to downtime can lead to unsatisfied customers. High-availability environments reduce the chances of potential downtime to a minimum and can help MSPs build lasting relationships with clients by keeping them happy. 

Maintaining brand reputation – System availability is an important indicator of the quality of your service delivery. As such, MSPs can leverage high-availability environments to maintain system uptime and build a strong brand reputation in the market. 

Keeping data secure – By minimizing the occurrence of system downtime through high availability, you can significantly reduce the chances of your critical business data being unlawfully accessed or stolen. 

How Is High Availability Measured?

High availability is typically measured as a percentage of uptime in any given year. Here, 100% is used to indicate a service environment that experiences zero downtime or no outages. The percentages of the order of magnitude are often denoted by the number of nines or “class of nines” in digits. 

What Is the Industry Standard for High Availability? 

According to the industry standard, most services with complex systems offer somewhere between 99% and 100% uptime. The majority of cloud providers offer some type of SLA around availability. For instance, cloud computing leaders, such as Microsoft, Google and Amazon, have their cloud SLAs set at 99.9% or “three nines.” This is usually considered to be a fairly reliable system uptime.  

However, the typical industry standard for high availability is generally considered to be “four nines”, which is 99.99% or higher. Typically, four nines availability equates to 52 minutes of downtime in a year. 

Availability Measures and Corresponding Downtime 

While three nines or 99.9% is usually considered decent uptime, it still translates to 8 hours and 45 minutes of downtime per year. Let’s take a look at the tabular representation of how the various levels of availability equate to hours of downtime. 

Although four nines is considered high service availability, it still means you will encounter 52 minutes of downtime in a year. The cost of IT downtime is $5,600 per minute. Considering this, with the three nines uptime offered by most leading cloud vendors, you will still lose a great deal of money through roughly 8.77 hours of service outage every year. 

How Is High Availability Generally Achieved?

Let’s find out what you need to do to achieve high availability. 

Deploy multiple application servers 

Overburdened servers have a tendency to slow down or eventually crash. You must implement applications over multiple different servers to ensure your applications keep running efficiently and downtime is reduced. 

Scale up and down 

Another way to achieve high availability is by scaling your servers up or down depending on the load and availability of the application. You can achieve vertical and horizontal scaling outside the application at the server level. 

Maintain an automated recurring online backup system 

Automating backup ensures the safety of your critical business data in the event you forget to manually save multiple versions of your files. It is a good practice that pays dividends under multiple different circumstances, including internal sabotage, natural disasters and file corruption. 

5 Best Practices for Maintaining High Availability

Here is a list of some best practices for maintaining high availability across your IT environment:

1. Achieve geographic redundancy 

Your only line of defense against service failure, when encountering catastrophic events such as natural disasters, is geographic redundancy. Similar to geo-replication, geo-redundancy is carried out by deploying multiple servers at geographic distinct sites. The idea is to choose locations that are globally distributed and not very localized in a particular region. You must execute independent application stacks across each of these far-flung locations to ensure that even if one fails, the other continues running smoothly. 

2. Implement strategic redundancy 

Mission-critical IT workloads require redundancy more than regular operational IT workloads that are not as frequently accessed. As such, instead of executing redundancy for every workload, you must focus on introducing redundancy strategically for the more critical workflows to achieve target ROI. 

3. Leverage failover solutions 

A high-availability architecture typically comprises of multiple loosely coupled servers that feature failover capabilities. Failover is described as a backup operational mode wherein the functions of a primary system component are automatically taken over by a secondary system when the former goes offline due to an unforeseen failure or planned downtime. You can manage your failover solutions with the help of DNS in a well-controlled environment. 

4. Implement network load balancing 

Increase the availability of your critical web-based application by implementing load balancing. If a server failure is detected, the instances are seamlessly replaced and the traffic is then automatically redirected to functional servers. Load balancing facilitates both high availability and incremental scalability. Accomplished with either a “push” or “pull” model, network load balancing introduces high fault tolerance levels within service applications. 

5. Set data synchronization to meet your RPO 

RPO is the amount of data that can be lost within a period most relevant to a business, before significant harm occurs. If you aim to hit a target of maximum availability, Be sure to set your RPO to less than or equal to 60 seconds. You must set up source and target solutions in a way that your data is never more than 60 seconds out of sync. This way, you will not lose more than 60 seconds worth of data should your primary source fail. 

Comparing High Availability to Similar Systems

Often, high availability is confused with a number of other concepts, and the differences are not well understood. To help you get a better understanding of these differences, here is a comparison of high availability vs. concepts it is often confused with.

High Availability vs. Fault Tolerance 

While both high availability and fault tolerance have the same objective, which is ensuring the continuity of your application service without any system degradation, both have certain unique attributes that distinguish them from one another.

While high-availability environments aim for 99.99% or above of system uptime, fault tolerance is focused on achieving absolute zero downtime. With a more complex design and higher redundancy, fault tolerance may be described as an upgraded version of high availability. However, fault tolerance involves higher costs as compared to high availability. 

High Availability vs. Redundancy 

As mentioned earlier high availability is a level of service availability that comes with minimal probability of downtime. The primary goal of high availability is to ensure system uptime even in the event of a failure. 

Redundancy, on the other hand, is the use of additional software or hardware to be used as backup in the event that the main software or hardware fails. It can be achieved via high availability, load balancing, failover or load clustering in an automated fashion. 

High Availability vs. Disaster Recovery

High availability is a concept wherein we eliminate single points of failure to ensure minimal service interruption. On the other hand, disaster recovery is the process of getting a disrupted system back to an operational state after a service outage. As such, we can say that when high availability fails, disaster recovery kicks in.

High Availability of IT Systems Requires Monitoring and Management 

One of the key strategies to maintain high availability is constant monitoring and management of critical business servers. You must deploy an efficient unified endpoint management solution, like Kaseya VSA, with powerful capabilities such as: 

• Monitoring and alerting — to quickly remediate problems 
• Automated remediation via agent procedures (scripts) 
• Automation of routine server maintenance and patching to keep systems up and running
• Remote control/remote endpoint management to troubleshoot issues 

Find out more about how Kaseya VSA can help you achieve high availability. Request a demo now!

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What Does Colocation Mean?

With colocation (also known as “colo”), you deploy your own servers, storage systems and networking equipment at a third-party data center. Simply put, you are basically renting space for your equipment at the colocation facility. That space can be leased by the room, cage, rack or cabinet. However, you get much more than just space. You also get power, backup power, cooling, cabling and more, just as you would at your own data center.

The concept of colocation first emerged in 1998 when businesses moved their racks and servers out of their office locations to colocation centers and were charged on a per-rack basis. Some colocation centers now function at a hyperscale level, catering to the data center facility needs of many large and small businesses alike.

What Is a Colocation Data Center?

A colocation data center is a physical facility that offers rental space to companies to host their servers, storage devices and networking equipment. In addition to the space that is either leased by rack, room, cage or cabinet, it provides facilities such as:

• Power: Colocation centers typically provide backup power with backup generators and/or uninterruptible power supply to keep your systems up and running 24/7.
• Cooling: Cooling systems such as redundant HVAC systems, liquid cooling and other technologies are generally provided.
• Bandwidth: High-speed internet access is provided by all colocation centers so that you have the necessary access to your server processing power.
• Physical security: Colocation centers typically take stringent measures to protect the IT infrastructure in the building. This could include CCTV monitoring, fire alert, on-site guards and identity authentication.

What Are the Different Types Colocation Centers?

There are a few different types of colo data centers. Let’s take a look at them.

• Retail colocation center: A customer leases space within a data center, usually a rack, space within a rack, or a caged-off area.
• Wholesale colocation center: These cater to large organizations and government agencies. A wholesale colocation center client typically requires more space and may prefer that their infrastructure be kept separate from other clients. Due to these reasons, wholesale colocation centers tend to house IT equipment for fewer clients, usually less than 100.
• Hybrid colocation center: Hybrid, cloud-based colocation is a mix of in-house and outsourced data center services.

Benefits of Using Colocation

Colocation centers offer a number of benefits including the following:

24x7x365 Support and Maintenance

Many colocation centers provide maintenance, monitoring, reporting and troubleshooting to help prevent potential disasters like system failures, security breaches and outages.

Uptime SLAs

Colocation centers provide multiple backup and disaster recovery options to keep services running during power outages and other unexpected events. They also guarantee uptime via service level agreements (SLAs) that can provide a high level of confidence to client companies. In general, colocation centers and data centers are graded on a tier system from Tier 1 to Tier 4, based on uptime.

• Tier 1 colocation centers provide 99.67 percent uptime, have the lowest amount of redundancy and are expected to have planned downtime.
• Tier 2 colocation centers provide 99.74 percent uptime with a scheduled yearly downtime required for maintenance.
• Tier 3 colocation centers provide 99.982 percent uptime. All servers in Tier 3 colocation centers are redundantly powered with two distribution paths. In case of power failure of one path, the servers can still remain online.
• Tier 4 colocation centers offer 99.995 percent uptime and typically serve large enterprises.

Greater Bandwidth and Connectivity

A colocation center typically offers a broad range of connectivity options to its clients. With multiple internet service providers, cloud environments and other cross connections available, companies can fully optimize their workloads and improve IT operational flexibility.

Lower Costs and Better Ccalability

The cost of managing an in-house data center and IT infrastructure can be higher than the cost of renting space at a colocation center. With colocation, companies can also have a very predictable operational expense model that replaces CapEx with operating expenditure (OpEx). They can also scale quickly and easily, something that cannot be easily achieved with on-premises options since expanding private server rooms and data centers takes months of planning.

Superior Physical Security

As mentioned earlier, many colocation facilities offer multiple layers of security, including authorized access, video surveillance, on-site personnel and mantraps.

Comparing Colocation to On-Premises and Cloud Options

Colocation centers, on-premises solutions and cloud infrastructure all have their own pros and cons. Organizations must evaluate extensively to determine which type of solution best suits their business needs and helps them operate most efficiently.

Colocation vs. On-Premises Solution

Colocation is unarguably cheaper than building and maintaining your own data center. However, in cases where a company has a large amount of legacy infrastructure and/or has complex hardware and network requirements, the on-premises option may be a necessity.

Colocation vs. Cloud

The main difference between colocation and public cloud services (Infrastructure-as-a-Service or IaaS) is that with colocation you own and maintain the hardware (servers, storage, etc.) whereas with IaaS, the service provider owns and maintains all of that equipment. Cloud services provide even greater flexibility to scale up or down as your computing demands change, but could also be more costly. On the other hand, colocation brings with it the risk of vendor lock-in challenges, which can be a drawback for some companies.

Considerations When Choosing A Colocation Provider

With the performance of your business riding on your colocation centers, selecting a provider is an important decision to make. While power redundancy, higher availability, scalability and costs are the obvious factors that influence the selection of a colocation provider, a few additional criteria that can ensure you derive the maximum benefit from your colocation centers are:

Location

The physical location of the colocation center plays a huge role with regards to ease of access and reduction of network latency. Minimizing latency delay is important for application performance. Ask questions like: “Where is your colocation center located?” and “How quickly can you get to it?”

Scalability and Flexibility

What kind of services does your colocation provider offer? Can it address your scaling requirements as your company grows? Can it accommodate any migration demands if required? As your company grows, so does your data. Your colocation facility should be able to cater to any additional capacity needs.

Security Services

What kind of security procedures and protocols are carried out by the colocation provider to protect your company data? For example, some colo centers offer 24×7 network monitoring and provide proactive security alerts and DDoS mitigation services. While all colocation centers provide physical security, you may want to use one that offers more.

Disaster Recovery Preparedness

Companies should align their disaster recovery plans with the colocation facilities they are leasing. Make sure your valuable IT assets are safeguarded against all kinds of disasters and incidents.

Every business strives to reduce its operating expenses and optimize its IT operations to support business growth. With 2021 around the corner, we’re pretty sure your IT budget planning is well underway. Download our 2021 Budgeting Checklist to help you with the planning process so you get a leg up for the new year.

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What Is Business Continuity?

Business continuity is the capability of an organization to overcome a disaster, whether natural or man-made, through the implementation of a business continuity plan.

Businesses today are susceptible to all kinds of incidents – breaches, cyberattacks, natural disasters, power outages and more. For a business to maintain its operations in the wake of such incidents, business continuity planning is critical.

Check out this short video on business continuity from BCI:

Business Continuity Management (BCM)

TechTarget defines BCM as a framework for identifying an organization’s risk of exposure to internal and external threats.

BCM provides a framework for building resilience and the capability for an effective response that safeguards the interests of the organization and its stakeholders, which includes employees, customers, suppliers, investors and the communities in which the organization operates.

Why Is Business Continuity Management Important?

BCM is a subset of a larger organizational risk strategy. Its strategies focus on the processes that need to take place after an event or disaster occurs. The aim of BCM is to restore the business to normal operations as efficiently and effectively as possible.

There are a growing number of industry guidelines and standards that businesses can leverage to start the process. Adopting and complying with BCM standards is a good way for companies to put a plan in place that will protect the business and ensure that it can continue in the aftermath of an incident.

Continuity of business operations following a disaster helps retain customers and reduces financial risk.

Who Is Responsible for Business Continuity Management?

A sound BCM strategy requires defining roles and responsibilities and resource planning for specific actions that need to be taken in the event of an incident.

Typically, organizational leaders should create, analyze and approve the BCM strategy and actively communicate the value of BCM and the risks of insufficient BCM capabilities.

All corporate functions and business units, including executive teams, IT teams, finance/accounting and more, must act within their areas of responsibility and help establish continuity response strategies.

Business Continuity Planning (BCP)

A business continuity plan is an integral part of BCM and outlines the risks to an organization due to an unplanned outage and the steps that must be taken to alleviate the risks.

It details the processes and the systems that must be sustained and maintained to allow business continuity in the event of a disruption.

What Are the Key Components of a Business Continuity Plan?

• Recovery strategies and procedures: The procedures and actions to be taken to maintain system uptime are documented in the business continuity plan. This includes strategies you have in place to keep your business functional and prioritization of assets important to your business. Be sure to also identify potential threats to these assets.
• Create a response team: This section of the plan deals with the team that will participate in the recovery process and the specific tasks to be assigned to them to get systems back up quickly.
• Backing up data for recovery: Organizations must strategize how to back up their data – the mediums and locations to be used for backup and recovery for continuous IT operations. Backup options include on-premises appliances, virtual appliances, and direct-to-cloud backup.
• Employee training: All employees in an organization must be trained to implement a business continuity plan whenever required. They should be aware of their individual roles and responsibilities and must be able to accomplish them in the event of a disaster.
• Updating and maintaining the business continuity plan: Organizations are constantly evolving, and these changes, if not documented, may cause a ripple effect on outdated business continuity plans.

Business continuity plans must be continuously reviewed and updated for various scenarios. Plans should be tested regularly to ensure they work in the event of an outage.

Business Continuity Testing

BCP is not a one-time task, but rather a continuous process that an organization must undertake. For business continuity plans to be efficient, testing is absolutely essential.

Business continuity testing ensures that your BCM framework works. Regular testing reduces risk, drives improvements, enhances predictability and ensures the alignment of the plan with the ever-evolving business.

How Often Should a Business Continuity Plan Be Tested?

Testing business continuity plans annually or biannually is recommended by most experts. Here are three steps you can take to test the effectiveness of your business continuity plan.

1. Create a BCP test plan: The first step requires the formulation of a test scenario and the generation of test scripts that should be executed by the response team.
2. Test the plan: Business continuity plans may fail to meet expectations due to insufficient or inaccurate recovery requirements or implementation errors. That’s why these components are tested by simulating a crisis and getting the response team and the relevant resources to move into action.
3. Retest after information update: In case of a process breakdown during testing, the test data is analyzed, the situation assessed, functions fixed and retesting is done to avoid the previous malfunction, until the test succeeds.

A well-structured business continuity plan enables organizations to mitigate the negative effects of a natural disaster or any other unexpected event and minimize downtime. Learn how Kaseya can help you keep your IT operations running with its enterprise-class backup solutions.

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In the event of a disruption, businesses must be able to quickly recover mission-critical data, restore IT systems and smoothly resume operations. A robust business continuity and disaster recovery (BCDR) plan is the key to having confidence in your ability to recover quickly with minimal disruption to the business.

What Is Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery (BCDR) and Why Is It Important for Businesses?

BCDR represents a set of approaches or processes that helps an organization recover from a disaster and resume its routine business operations. Disasters include natural calamities, outages or disruption due to power failure, employee negligence, hardware failure, or cyberattacks.

A BCDR plan ensures that businesses operate as close to normal as possible after an unexpected interruption, with minimal loss of data.

In the past, some companies were under the impression that only large enterprise organizations needed BCDR plans. However, it is just as critical for small and midsize businesses. The 2019 Verizon Data Breach Investigations Report showed that “43 percent of [security] breaches involved small business victims.”

Having a proper BCDR plan in place enables businesses to minimize both the downtime and the cost of a disruption.

What Is the Difference Between Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery?

The business continuity component of a BCDR plan deals with the people, processes and resources that are needed before, during and after an incident to minimize interruption of business operations and cost to the business. It includes:

• Team – The first and one of the most important components of a business continuity plan (BCP) is organizing a continuity team. Your BCP will be effective only if it is well-designed and if there is a dedicated team to execute it at a moment’s notice.
• Business Impact Analysis (BIA) – A deep analysis of potential threats and how they could impact the business — usually described in terms of cost to the business. The BIA identifies the most critical business functions that you need to protect and restore quickly.
• Resource Planning – Identifying resources (hardware systems, software, alternative office space and other items to be used during a crisis) as well as the key staff, and the roles they must play in the event of a disaster.

Disaster recovery is a subset of business continuity planning and involves getting IT systems up and running following a disaster.

Planning for disaster recovery includes:

• Defining parameters for the company such as recovery time objective (RTO) — the maximum time systems can be down without causing significant damage to the business, and recovery point objective (RPO) — the amount of data that can be lost without affecting the business
• Implementing backup and disaster recovery (BDR) solutions and creating processes for restoring applications and data on all systems

What Are the Objectives of a BCDR Plan?

A BCDR plan aims to protect a company from financial loss in case of a disruptive event. Data losses and downtime can lead to businesses being shut down. A robust BCDR plan:

• Reduces the overall financial risk to the company
• Enables the company to comply with industry regulations with regards to data management
• Prepares the organization to respond adequately and resume operations as quickly as possible in the aftermath of a crisis

6 Steps to Execute a Robust BCDR Plan

1. Identify the team: The continuity team will not only carry out the business continuity plan in the event of a crisis but will also ensure that your other employees are informed and know how to respond in a crisis. The team will also be responsible for planning and executing crisis communications strategies.
2. Conduct a business impact analysis (BIA): A BIA identifies the impact of a sudden loss of business functions, usually in terms of cost to the business. It also identifies the most critical business functions, which allows you to create a business continuity plan that prioritizes recovery of these essential functions.
3. Design the recovery plan: Determine acceptable downtime for critical systems and implement backup and disaster recovery (BDR) solutions for those critical systems as well as SaaS application data. BDR solutions can be appliance-based or in the cloud. Consider Disaster Recovery as a Service (DRaaS) solutions as part of your overall strategy.
4. Test your backups: Disaster recovery testing is a vital part of a backup and recovery plan. Without proper testing, you will never know if your backup can be recovered. According to the 2019 State of IT Operations Survey Report, only 31 percent of the respondents test their disaster recovery plan regularly, which shows that businesses usually underestimate the importance of BDR testing.
5. Execute the plan: In the event of a disruption, execute the processes that get your systems and business back to normal.
6. Measure, review and keep the plan updated: Measure the success of your execution and update your plan based on any gaps that are uncovered. Testing the BCDR plan beforehand is recommended for better results.

Learn more about BCDR planning and its importance to successful business operations by downloading our eBook Business Continuity Planning to Combat a Crisis.

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