Disaster recovery planning and management
Planning is the number one tool a business has at its disposal to prevent a crisis. Cyber attacks and natural disasters can be unavoidable and unpredictable. If DR teams plan for the worst, they can avoid being caught off guard. Get helpful disaster recovery advice, templates and tests that will prepare your organization for almost anything.
Top Stories
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News
26 Mar 2024
New SIOS console enables high availability visualization
IT generalists on Linux systems can avoid the complexity of HA management for mission-critical apps or databases with a new management console in SIOS' LifeKeeper software. Continue Reading
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Tip
20 Mar 2024
4 disaster recovery plan best practices for any business
Disaster recovery plans are unique, built around an organization's size, type and industry. However, there are some key best practices that all businesses can implement. Continue Reading
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Feature
17 Feb 2020
Ensure your DR strategy meets the challenges of a new decade
Traditional disasters and new cyberthreats have organizations reexamining their DR plans to ensure they maintain high levels of availability and can restore operations quickly. Continue Reading
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Feature
10 Feb 2020
Preparing an annual schedule of business continuity activities
Many activities comprise a business continuity plan, and the better you manage them, the more successful your overall business continuity program will be. Continue Reading
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Feature
05 Feb 2020
Free service-level agreement template for DR plans
Download our free SLA template to help you get started planning the performance and response time requirements associated with disaster recovery activities. Continue Reading
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Tip
04 Feb 2020
Use this disaster recovery plan checklist to improve your plan
Our comprehensive disaster recovery plan audit checklist can help you thoroughly evaluate your organization's DR plan to find and address potential weaknesses. Continue Reading
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Tip
31 Jan 2020
Obtaining professional business continuity certifications
Professional resilience certifications recognize those working in business continuity and disaster recovery, and the education that comes with them is a valuable resource. Continue Reading
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News
30 Jan 2020
Survey: Many businesses neglecting disaster recovery testing
Even though DR testing is a low-cost way to ensure readiness, businesses don't do it enough. Roadblocks include limited time, stretched IT teams and basic human nature. Continue Reading
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Tip
30 Jan 2020
Updating your old business continuance plan for the new year
Has your business continuity plan kept up with data center changes of the past year? If not, it may be time to revisit your plan's capabilities and existing recovery objectives. Continue Reading
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Definition
30 Jan 2020
business continuity plan audit
A business continuity plan audit is a formalized method for evaluating how business continuity processes are being managed. Continue Reading
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Feature
24 Jan 2020
4 approaches to creating a business continuity and DR strategy
Learn which approaches an organization can take -- including using a single provider, a managed partnership or DIY -- when implementing their business continuity and disaster recovery strategy. Continue Reading
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Feature
24 Jan 2020
Need a BC/DR plan? MSPs provide one source of expertise
Smaller businesses may lack in-house expertise for developing a BC/DR strategy, but managed service providers may be able to lend a hand with the planning task. Continue Reading
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Feature
21 Jan 2020
Business continuity services, DR planning key to recovery success
Although all-in-one options for business continuity and disaster recovery planning are lacking, organizations can create a system using the various services and tools examined here. Continue Reading
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Tip
09 Jan 2020
Tips for outsourcing business resilience services
Outsourcing IT resilience is more feasible than ever, thanks to a rise in cloud-based options. If you plan on outsourcing resilience to a third party, be sure to do your homework. Continue Reading
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Feature
31 Dec 2019
Top 5 disaster recovery and planning questions asked in 2019
What were your top DR planning questions in 2019? While the cloud seems top of mind every year, newer trends like blockchain and orchestration also made the list. Continue Reading
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Answer
30 Dec 2019
What will disaster recovery strategy look like in 2020?
Disaster recovery planning is an ever-evolving process, and organizations should be aware of new threats and tools. Ensure that your strategy isn't behind the times in 2020. Continue Reading
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Feature
20 Dec 2019
Business impact analysis checklist: 10 improvements to your BIA strategy
A business impact analysis is a critical part of disaster recovery planning. Avoid potential disruptions and smooth out the planning process with this BIA checklist. Continue Reading
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Answer
26 Nov 2019
What is the role of HCI in a disaster recovery architecture?
Is hyper-convergence a good fit for disaster recovery? More organizations appear to believe so and are increasingly using hyper-converged infrastructure in backup and DR. Continue Reading
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Answer
26 Nov 2019
How do a business impact analysis and risk assessment differ?
When it comes to disaster recovery strategy, business impact analyses and risk assessments both play key roles. Make sure you include them in your DR planning. Continue Reading
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Guide
18 Nov 2019
Why you should have a disaster recovery testing plan in place
Regular testing of a disaster recovery plan is one of the only ways to ensure a plan is working, up to date and well-tailored to an organization's needs. Continue Reading
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Feature
31 Oct 2019
Recovering from ransomware soars to the top of DR concerns
Ransomware recovery may not have always been a featured topic in TechTarget's 20 years of coverage, but it's certainly made an impression in the last few. Continue Reading
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Tip
14 Oct 2019
Tips for obtaining BC/DR plan and resilience funding
Creating a comprehensive business continuity and disaster recovery plan is no joke, and funding those services can add another hurdle to your company's IT resilience strategy. Continue Reading
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Answer
30 Sep 2019
What are the benefits of outsourcing risk mitigation and management?
Rather than handling risk management and mitigation within your organization, outsourcing these important processes to a third party comes with substantial benefits. Continue Reading
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Answer
27 Sep 2019
How can your IT resilience plan incorporate big data analytics?
Big data analytics can help businesses spot past mistakes, forecast conditions and improve future strategies. So, why should resilience planning be any different? Continue Reading
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Tip
12 Sep 2019
Disaster recovery and backup: To converge or not to converge?
While it makes sense to some degree to have overlap between backup and disaster recovery systems, there may be even more sense behind keeping them discrete. Continue Reading
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Tip
10 Sep 2019
Cybersecurity and business continuity integration boosts resilience
Are you doing all you can to make your organization resilient? You might be hampering your company's efforts by keeping business continuity and cybersecurity planning separate. Continue Reading
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Feature
29 Aug 2019
Free IT disaster recovery plan template and guide
A DR strategy is the cornerstone to ensuring infrastructure and applications continue to operate when a major outage hits. Our free DR template outlines the needed steps. Continue Reading
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Feature
26 Aug 2019
Sample business continuity plan template for small businesses
Our step-by-step business continuity plan for small businesses enables an organization to restore mission-critical operations during an unforeseen event. Continue Reading
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News
22 Aug 2019
New Everbridge CEO talks education, NC4 acquisition
Every company needs to be ready to respond in the event of a crisis. Everbridge's new CEO details why that's important and what a proper platform entails. Continue Reading
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Answer
20 Aug 2019
How does a data archiving strategy benefit DR and backup?
In order to be truly resilient, your organization needs more than just a backup and disaster recovery plan. Integrating archiving into your strategy offers some serious benefits. Continue Reading
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Opinion
01 Aug 2019
Hypervisor vendors upset virtual disaster recovery market
Zerto and Veeam have conquered the DR market, but hypervisor vendors such as VMware and Nutanix have emerged, offering services that look to lower costs and provide better performance. Continue Reading
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Tip
25 Jul 2019
Fortify your business resilience with consequence management
Is there something lacking in your incident response strategy? Consequence management could be the missing piece in your organization's IT resilience plan. Continue Reading
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Feature
08 Jul 2019
What is a business resilience plan and why do you need one?
Just like business continuity has become indispensable, having an IT resilience plan in place is crucial to keeping your business up and running today. Continue Reading
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Feature
28 Jun 2019
Disaster recovery for small businesses leaves no room for excuses
Are you putting off investing in disaster recovery efforts for your small business? If your reasons include a lack of urgency and funds, we have some news for you. Continue Reading
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Answer
17 Jun 2019
Is VMware SRM disaster recovery a good fit for your DR plan?
VMware Site Recovery Manager brings a number of benefits to the disaster recovery process. One of the lesser known roles of SRM is as a planning tool. Continue Reading
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Tip
17 Jun 2019
A good business disaster recovery plan considers IT, staffing
Not sure if your disaster recovery plan takes business needs into account? A good plan should cover business operations, as well as technology and staffing requirements. Continue Reading
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Answer
05 Jun 2019
Can you use blockchain for disaster recovery purposes?
Disaster recovery may not be the most prominent use case for blockchain technology, but the idea of using it for data protection and recovery is beginning to gain traction. Continue Reading
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Feature
30 May 2019
Ransomware attack recovery pointers for when you've been hit
Ransomware recovery is a complex and expensive process, and an attack can happen to anyone. Taking precautions and acting early could save your data -- and a good amount of money. Continue Reading
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Answer
23 May 2019
How do slow data transfer speeds affect VM disaster recovery?
When failing over VMs to the cloud or a remote data center, slow data transfer speeds can spell disaster. Don't let failed replications and partial failovers upset your DR plan. Continue Reading
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Tip
17 May 2019
Successful disaster recovery approaches set priorities
By taking a tiered approach, similar to cybersecurity, disaster recovery planners can structure their recovery to cut downtime and protect high-priority data. Continue Reading
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Feature
30 Apr 2019
Words to go: Disaster recovery planning checklist
Working on a disaster recovery plan? Don't forget to include these vital tests, exercises, plans and assessments when preparing for a disruptive event. Continue Reading
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Answer
30 Apr 2019
What are the benefits of disaster recovery orchestration?
A disaster recovery plan that uses orchestration can simplify the process of failing VMs over to the cloud. Unfortunately, there are some caveats to take into account. Continue Reading
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News
29 Apr 2019
New factors driving disaster recovery adoption
Threats from cyberattacks and climate change have replaced natural disasters as the main drivers behind companies adopting disaster recovery and make no geographic zone safe. Continue Reading
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Tip
24 Apr 2019
How to plan for the worst possible disaster recovery scenarios
Your worst-case DR scenario today might be vastly different than it was just a few years ago. What's the worst that could happen to your data center in the event of a disaster? Continue Reading
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News
22 Apr 2019
Assurance business continuity software gauges emergency preparedness
Assurance Software's new analytics and dashboard feature allows companies to monitor the health and readiness of their business continuity programs and pinpoint areas of weakness. Continue Reading
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Feature
12 Apr 2019
How to use AI for business continuity and disaster recovery planning
Are you incorporating AI into your BC/DR planning? If not, there are multiple opportunities to include AI in the planning process, both before and after a disaster occurs. Continue Reading
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Answer
03 Apr 2019
How has ransomware recovery changed in recent years?
The threat of ransomware has evolved over the past few years, causing many organizations to re-examine how they plan to recover data in the event of an attack. Continue Reading
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Tip
29 Mar 2019
How to evaluate DRaaS providers
DR-as-a-service providers need to be vetted properly to ensure that the services you have purchased are deliverable and meet expectations during a disaster. Continue Reading
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Tip
26 Mar 2019
Conduct a business impact analysis with these tips and tools
A business impact analysis is a fairly standard part of disaster recovery planning, but nuances within your organization may affect your approach to conducting and using a BIA. Continue Reading
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Guide
26 Mar 2019
The modern disaster recovery market explained
New approaches to disaster recovery planning, cloud DR and virtualized DR have grown in popularity as cybersecurity threats have arisen and shaped the market. Continue Reading
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News
21 Mar 2019
Everbridge Crisis Management unifies communication, response
Everbridge has launched an application that provides organizations the ability to manage a critical event throughout its lifecycle through a dynamic dashboard. Continue Reading
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Answer
15 Mar 2019
Can your disaster recovery strategy keep up?
Disaster recovery requirements are constantly changing, and a DR plan must do the same. Frequent testing and clear communication can go a long way toward keeping a plan up to date. Continue Reading
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Answer
08 Mar 2019
What are the pros and cons of on-premises disaster recovery?
While cloud DR is gaining popularity, it may not be the right choice for every organization. On-premises DR often comes with more predictable pricing and lower latency. Continue Reading
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Quiz
27 Feb 2019
Disaster recovery planning checklist: Put your team to the test
With all of the planning that disaster recovery takes, it's easy to overlook the basics. Ensure that your DR team isn't skipping over internal issues, like staffing and security. Continue Reading
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Tip
27 Feb 2019
Secure disaster recovery will be a priority in 2019
Along with weather events and IT outages, data security has become a major concern in DR. With cyberattacks on the rise, strategists are placing higher importance on resilience. Continue Reading
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Tip
26 Feb 2019
What to do if an internal notification system fails
Having an emergency notification system in place can help maintain contact with staff during a crisis, but make sure that your company has a plan in place in case it malfunctions. Continue Reading
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Tip
20 Feb 2019
How to determine your disaster recovery objectives
Ideal recovery objectives are different for every business. Luckily, there are four basic steps you can follow to ensure you set the right RTO and RPO. Continue Reading
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Guide
15 Feb 2019
Disaster recovery strategy guidelines: Preparation and response
A disaster recovery and response plan should be unique to each organization, but there are universal best practices that can facilitate rapid and comprehensive incident response. Continue Reading
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Tip
30 Jan 2019
How to ensure a secure disaster recovery operation
As if recovering from a disaster isn't pressing enough, organizations also need to be mindful of potential security breaches when they are most vulnerable. Continue Reading
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Tip
24 Jan 2019
4 key qualities in a disaster recovery team consultant
An experienced and reliable disaster recovery consultant can offer significant benefits to a DR team. When choosing a DR consultant, it helps to be picky. Continue Reading
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News
17 Jan 2019
Assurance, ClearView merge business continuity services
U.S.-based Assurance Software's merger with U.K.-based ClearView extends the business continuity providers' international reach, helping customers who do business globally. Continue Reading
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News
02 Jan 2019
AsTech uses Flexential data center for backup and DRaaS
When remote automotive diagnostics provider AsTech grew too big for its on-premises data center, it turned to colocation with Flexential for backup and disaster recovery. Continue Reading
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Feature
31 Dec 2018
Disaster recovery plans, continuity take center stage in 2018
Were you worried about your DR plan in 2018? You're far from alone. Preparation for ransomware and natural disaster threats loomed over the heads of DR planners in the past year. Continue Reading
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Tip
31 Dec 2018
Focus more on disaster recovery strategy in 2019
Evolving disaster recovery technologies have eased some of the common DR burdens over the past year, but strategic areas such as funding and security could use some more attention. Continue Reading
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Guide
31 Dec 2018
Essential guide to business continuity and disaster recovery plans
Not confident in your BC/DR plans? You're not alone. Nearly every organization struggles with comprehensive BC/DR planning that covers all potential threats and setbacks. Continue Reading
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Tip
21 Dec 2018
Disaster recovery trends and technologies to watch
Major disaster recovery developments have changed the market yet again, and it's time to get ready for a new year in DR technology, before you end up lagging behind. Continue Reading
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Tip
19 Dec 2018
Disaster recovery planning tools: Predictive analytics for DR
Today, predictive analytics and AI are fully realized disaster recovery tools. In the unpredictable world of DR, predictive analytics is a particularly powerful technology. Continue Reading
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Tip
11 Dec 2018
3 common disaster recovery challenges from 2018
The past year was a big one for disaster recovery teams, for better or for worse. Major challenges included the prevalence of ransomware, GDPR compliance and the cloud. Continue Reading
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Answer
11 Dec 2018
How does VMware Admission Control work?
Get to know VMware vSphere's Admission Control tool and use it to reserve the resources necessary for VM failover with cluster resource calculations and slot policy. Continue Reading
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Answer
10 Dec 2018
How does vSphere HA application monitoring work?
Use heartbeats, VM monitoring and application monitoring to fully examine the causes of VM unresponsiveness. Adjust sensitivity levels to focus on the level of detail you need. Continue Reading
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Answer
06 Dec 2018
Ensure VM high availability with vSphere DRS and HA
Combine Distributed Resource Scheduler and vSphere High Availability to design balanced failover clusters. Pay attention to affinity rules, which can further support availability. Continue Reading
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Answer
05 Dec 2018
How does vSphere high availability affect VM restart order?
If you encounter a VM failure, you can use vSphere HA to automatically detect and restart VMs. Before you restart the VMs, you'll also need to meet resource and host criteria. Continue Reading
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Answer
26 Nov 2018
What's the difference between a hot site and cold site for DR?
The hot site vs. cold site debate requires users to understand how each DR site works and the resources needed. While one is more budget-friendly, downtime can be a deciding factor. Continue Reading
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Tip
26 Nov 2018
10 steps for optimal IT disaster recovery plan design
Have you ensured your disaster recovery planning is comprehensive and able to be understood by everyone involved? Our guidelines will help set you on the right path. Continue Reading
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News
15 Nov 2018
Everbridge mass notification sparkles for Tiffany
Tiffany & Co. uses the freshly updated Everbridge Critical Event Management Platform in a number of ways. It recently had to put the mass notification capability to swift use. Continue Reading
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Tip
09 Nov 2018
Disaster recovery vs. backup: Plan for and prioritize VM workloads
Before admins design a recovery plan, they must plan out which VM workloads need a disaster recovery environment and which need backups. Weigh these factors before making the call. Continue Reading
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Infographic
05 Nov 2018
Successful IT resiliency strategy based on high availability and DR
Stringent yet realistic RTOs and RPOs are crucial to resiliency plans aiming to minimize interruptions to businesses operations should disaster or disruptions strike IT resources. Continue Reading
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Podcast
31 Oct 2018
IBM manager: Cyber-resilience strategy part of business continuity
Cyber resilience is increasingly a must for company executives. IBM's Andrea Sayles details the latest threats, as well as best practices for how to be prepared for attacks. Continue Reading
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Answer
31 Oct 2018
How to create an emergency phone tree and template
When disaster strikes an organization, employees must be alerted. Using a call tree in emergency situations is a time-tested way to effectively communicate events and next steps. Continue Reading
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News
09 Oct 2018
Arcserve cloud platform eyes comprehensive business continuity
The Business Continuity Cloud brings together the spectrum of Arcserve's technologies. Through the web-based user interface, users can perform most jobs in a few clicks. Continue Reading
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Answer
04 Oct 2018
What 5 skills should a disaster recovery team leader have?
Is the right person in charge of your disaster recovery planning? Look for a DR team leader who has the knowledge to run the show and the accessibility needed from a good manager. Continue Reading
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Quiz
02 Oct 2018
Test your business continuity best practices knowledge
When crafting a business continuity and disaster recovery plan, it's helpful to keep in mind some basic best practices. Don't find yourself caught off guard by getting complacent. Continue Reading
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Tip
27 Sep 2018
Malware response plan recovers data in 6 steps
Responding to and recovering from malware is a complex process that requires significant preparation. With a response plan in place, you can be ready to prevent a malware disaster. Continue Reading
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Tip
18 Sep 2018
GDPR and disaster recovery: How to ensure you're covered
After all of the preparations and changes your organization has gone through to prepare for GDPR, make sure disaster recovery doesn't get swept under the rug. Continue Reading
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Tip
06 Sep 2018
Highlight these 4 areas in your malware incident response plan
The malware threat is on the rise, and recovery is no simple process. When planning a malware response, it's vital to get down specifics and eliminate unknown factors. Continue Reading
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Answer
29 Aug 2018
Can an SMB business continuity strategy compete with larger firms?
When crafting a business continuity plan, an SMB must try and meet customers' enterprise-level expectations, while using its available resources to the fullest. Continue Reading
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Guide
28 Aug 2018
Recovering from ransomware: Defend your data with best practices
What does it take to recover from a ransomware attack? In most cases, it's planning, testing and resources. Is your organization prepared for the worst? Continue Reading
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Tip
27 Aug 2018
4 areas where compliance with GDPR and disaster recovery intersect
Your disaster recovery plans may have to change following the need for compliance with GDPR. These four elements involve backups, personal data, security and archiving. Continue Reading
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Answer
24 Aug 2018
What standards for business continuity aid in compliance?
Business continuity and disaster recovery compliance is a valuable asset and may require a deeper understanding of modern standards and changes your organization needs to make. Continue Reading
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Answer
15 Aug 2018
What does the ISO 22330 business continuity standard cover?
With ISO/TS 22330, the International Organization for Standardization covers the issues related to the people involved in BCDR incident response. Continue Reading
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Tip
30 Jul 2018
With a data recovery plan, take advantage of all resources
Data security and data recovery have a lot in common, and both can cause a lot of strife if not handled properly. Are you using every disaster recovery resource available to you? Continue Reading
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Tip
23 Jul 2018
Five tips for disaster recovery insurance and funding
Having a complete disaster recovery plan is essential. So is having DR insurance and the money available to fund the recovery. These steps will help you succeed with the latter. Continue Reading
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Tip
18 Jul 2018
Five data recovery planning steps to protect vital assets
Accurately restoring lost data after disaster strikes requires planning, patience and logic. If your goal is a smooth recovery process, here's what you'll need to know beforehand. Continue Reading
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Tip
06 Jul 2018
Use an IT outage communication plan to recover from a host crash
Efficiently recover from a host crash by maintaining transparency for your stakeholders and evaluating the resources available for a full root cause analysis. Continue Reading
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Quiz
25 Jun 2018
Can you recover from ransomware? Take our quiz and find out
Ransomware recovery is a complex, often expensive process. Are you prepared in the event of an attack? It may be time to ask yourself the difficult (or perhaps easy) questions. Continue Reading
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Definition
21 Jun 2018
ransomware recovery
Ransomware recovery is the process of resuming operations following a cyberattack that demands payment in exchange for unlocking encrypted data. Continue Reading
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Answer
18 Jun 2018
Is your cloud DR strategy agile enough?
As business requirements evolve, not every DR tool can keep up. In the age of agile IT, there are drawbacks to consider with a cloud-based disaster recovery strategy. Continue Reading
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News
14 Jun 2018
Iron Mountain data recovery adds ransomware protection
The isolated nature of Iron Mountain's latest Iron Cloud offering is important to its battle against ransomware. The Virtual Cleanroom provides an offline recovery environment. Continue Reading
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Tip
11 Jun 2018
3 signs you may need a business continuity service provider
Using a BC/DR service provider may give your recovery plan a much-needed boost. As new technologies and standards arise, a partner can address changing needs. Continue Reading
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Opinion
06 Jun 2018
A data replication strategy for all your disaster recovery needs
Know your IT environment inside and out to choose the right data replication product for your organization's current and future disaster recovery requirements. Continue Reading