Hybrid cloud solutions provide the best of both worlds for enterprise data storage

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The cloud has been making quite the splash in the enterprise recently, providing businesses with a better solution for data storage and mobile working opportunities. As more organizations implement cloud strategies, it is becoming clear that a large number of IT administrators are choosing hybrid environments to make the most out of their cloud investments and experience improved elasticity, availability and security at a reasonable price. Hybrid cloud adoption is growing so quickly, in fact, that the number of businesses implementing a hybrid environment is expected to triple in the next three years, according to Data Center Knowledge contributor Toby Owen.

"Businesses implementing a hybrid environment are expected to triple in the next 3 years."

A major part of the appeal of hybrid cloud deployments is that they offer the best of public and private cloud environments. While many organizations enjoy the convenience and cost-effective aspects of public cloud infrastructure, it can be difficult for IT administrators to approve placing business-critical applications and sensitive data in a public deployment. Private cloud environments offer improved security, as they are managed by the company itself. However, they are less agile than public platforms and can make it difficult for businesses to run efficiently.

"When you look at cloud in general, and you say 'I'm going to take my data, I'm going to store it somewhere that's outside my own data centers,' that already is a big hurdle to cross for many companies," said Rani Osnat, vice president of strategic marketing at data protection hardware provider CTERA Networks. "What you need to do is wrap enough security around it for that company to feel at least as comfortable with that concept as they do with storing it in-house."

Hybrid cloud is a rising star in the business world.Hybrid cloud is a rising star in the business world.

Enterprises see benefits with hybrid cloud solutions
Hybrid clouds merge both of those aspects together, creating an ideal deployment by offering the best of both worlds. Applications that need to be easily accessed can be kept in a more open public environment while sensitive systems and files can be kept in more secure private environments, ensuring all assets have the level of security and accessibility necessary. However, while the security and agility benefits of hybrid cloud deployments have made the option increasingly popular, a number of factors have played a part in the hybrid cloud boom, including price, performance and capacity.

Cost: According to research conducted by technology market research firm Vanson Bourne, cost is consistently reported as being a major factor when IT administrators are deciding on cloud investments. Since cloud computing is able to lower costs by reducing the amount of physical equipment necessary, the choice has become popular with many enterprises. Hybrid cloud infrastructure helps organizations reduce costs even more by offering businesses the ability to choose cloud features à la carte, picking everything from the operating system to the firewall protections. When companies customize each piece of their cloud environment, they are able to have total control over the cost, resulting in significant price reductions for most enterprises.

Performance: The technology that goes into a hybrid cloud deployment has grown increasingly sophisticated over the last few years, offering improved functionality and accessibility as well as enhanced capabilities. Today's hybrid cloud solutions are starting to incorporate many advanced offerings from infrastructure and software providers. Because these environments incorporate sophisticated features like disaster recovery, bare metal and virtual servers, online portals and HPC capabilities, service providers are able to offer hybrid cloud solution bundles that can meet the specific requirements of individual businesses. With more use cases and wider applications, hybrid cloud is a natural solution for businesses of all sizes.

Capacity: One of the most pressing reasons so many organizations are turning to hybrid cloud solutions is due to a need for more data storage capacity. A growing number of enterprises are now utilizing big data analytics, and Gartner has predicted that 80 percent of business processes and products will be reinvented, digitized or totally eliminated due to big data by 2020. Dealing with such a massive amount of information requires companies to utilize a cloud solution that is not only agile enough to handle processing such large amounts of data, but has the capacity to store the information in the first place. Hybrid cloud is the reliable answer, melding security and agility into one ideal platform.

Having trouble managing data volume? Try converged infrastructure

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As a growing number of businesses across just about all industries adopt new tech trends like bring-your-own-device policies, big data analytics and the Internet of Things, the volume of information stored by such organizations is reaching increasingly high levels. The ability to collect and share data is more important than ever, but traditional information management systems have difficulties handling the rising workloads. In an attempt to manage the growing amounts of data, many companies have scaled their existing IT infrastructure by incorporating disparate systems on outdated technology. This creates overly complex IT environments and puts even more strain on storage setups and IT administrators.

So what are enterprises to do? The current business environment calls for faster and more agile access to critical data, and the systems being used now are complicated and detrimental to the health of a company. To gain the competitive advantages necessary to stay ahead of the game, many organizations are now deploying converged infrastructure.

Growing volumes of data can be better managed with a converged infrastructure. Growing volumes of data can be better managed with a converged infrastructure.

Moving to a converged infrastructure

“The integrated infrastructure market increased by nearly 34% in 2014.”

Instead of buying one-off machines and separate CPU, storage and network components and having to configure them all, converged infrastructure allows IT administrators to access an preconfigured, integrated experience in a box. A growing number of enterprises are seeing the advantages to implementing converged infrastructure, according to research firm IDC. In the second quarter of 2014, the integrated infrastructure and platforms market increased by nearly 34 percent year-over-year and revenue for the first half of 2014 rose 36 percent.

Converged systems scale out performance and capacity by virtualizing computing and storage power across multiple nodes. Data protection and failover are managed between the nodes, and clients typically must start with a minimum of three to account for availability. Once the system has been implemented, users can add nodes on an individual basis in order to increase storage and computing resources.

There are a variety of benefits to converged infrastructure:

  • Faster Provisioning: By employing a converged infrastructure model, a job that may have once required a provisioning time of three weeks can be cut down to less than an hour in some instances.
  • Lowers costs: With convergence, fewer single-use components are needed, and fewer components will be used in the data center overall. This decrease means fewer components to manage, troubleshoot and operate, as well as a reduction in the physical footprint of the data center or other IT facility.
  • Simpler management infrastructure: A converged infrastructure centralizes the management of servers, networks and storage, creating more streamlined daily maintenance. This requires less personnel and a lower knowledge base as opposed to traditional upkeep, freeing up skilled tech workers for more business-critical functions.
  • Quicker IT response: Creates a more agile way to respond to changes in the marketplace or with business priorities.
  • Reduced siloing of IT teams: Instead of managing storage and CPU separately, everything is done together. Fewer overall IT resources are needed with converged infrastructure and more knowledge and cross-training becomes available throughout the business.
  • Improved control: Control is now centralized and management of multiple functions and devices can take place at one time.
  • Scalability and flexibility: Allows the capacity of the entire data center or IT footprint to be quickly adjusted to meet client demands.

Converged infrastructure offers business considerable savings as opposed to traditional approaches. As the market continues to evolve, systems will become simplified and more third-party integrators will emerge to take over the task from in-house teams. This will lead to increased options and lower costs. Modern converged systems focus management on virtual machines, moving commodity computing resources and disks to the background. As the market continues to grow, more options will emerge that offer both options in combined nodes, enabling improved scalability. Sometimes referred to as hyperconvergence, this unites storage, computing a networking in a single unit around a hypervisor that takes care of all of the management duties.

With enterprise data volumes increasing all the time and as the need for reliable, agile and secure management solutions become more important, working with a third-party service provider to create a converged infrastructure solution is more often than not the best way for business to access competitive advantages.

Cloud IaaS market growing

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The cloud Infrastructure-as-a-Service market is growing at an accelerated rate, with providers bringing in increased revenue, according to IT analyst firm Gartner.

A recent Gartner report found that global spending on cloud IaaS solutions will reach almost $16.5 billion in 2015, an increase of more than 32 percent from last year. As more businesses move an increasing number of workloads to the cloud, the market is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 29 percent through 2019.

"10% of CIOs consider cloud IaaS their default infrastructure option."

Last year the absolute growth of public IaaS workloads surpassed on-premise workload growth of any type for the first time, the Gartner report revealed. According to a survey of CIOs conducted by Gartner, cloud IaaS is considered an infrastructure option by 83 percent of CIOs and 10 percent already consider it their default choice.

This growth in the IaaS market is also causing a consolidation of service providers, according to Gartner vice president and distinguished analyst Lydia Leong. The market is rapidly revolving around a small number of trusted service providers, so IT buyers will need to select their vendors carefully.

"We urge buyers to be extremely cautious when selecting providers; ask specific and detailed questions about the provider's roadmap for the service, and seek contractual commitments that do not permit the provider to modify substantially or to discontinue the offering without at least 12 months' notice," said Leong.

The cloud IaaS market is growing and providers are consolidating.The cloud IaaS market is growing and providers are consolidating.

IaaS proves a versatile tool
Cloud IaaS solutions can be put to work for practically any use case that can reasonably be hosted on virtual servers, but the most common are development and testing environments, high performance computers and batch processing, Web-based apps and non-mission-critical internal business applications. Gartner suggests that businesses adopting a cloud IaaS solution operate in two essential modes, otherwise known as bimodal IT. This allows them to keep sight of what is needed to maintain IT operations while at the same time innovating with new, digital possibilities.

"Cloud IaaS can now be used to run most workloads, although not every provider can run every type of workload well," said Leong. "Cloud IaaS is not a commodity. Providers vary significantly in their features, performance, cost and business terms. Although in theory, cloud IaaS has very little lock-in, in truth, cloud IaaS is not merely a matter of hardware rental, but an entire data centre ecosystem as a service. The more you use its management capabilities, the more value you will receive from the offering, but the more you will be tied to that particular service offering."

When first starting, most organizations deploy cloud IaaS for mode 2, agile IT projects that may be on the periphery of the organization's IT needs but can still have a major impact for the business. As the company becomes more comfortable with its use of IaaS overtime, some organizations may choose to use it in Mode 1, for traditional IT projects.

As time goes on, many enterprises, especially those in the mid-market, will likely migrate away from operating their own computing facilities and instead host their workloads in a data center run by a service provider and rely primarily on infrastructure in the cloud.

What do schools need to prepare for new testing standards?

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The summer months are fast approaching, and with the end of school year in sight, it means students all over the country are preparing to take standardized tests before they can enjoy a three-month break. The new Common Core standards have brought big changes to the classroom, but one of the most noticeable is the online assessments that will soon be given to test how students are comprehending material. School district administrators have just about one year to go until their teachers have to start giving the online tests, so now is the time for IT decision-makers to inventory the technology and connectivity available in order to make the necessary changes before assessment day arrives.

"The Common Core digital assessment can bring challenges for schools when it comes to IT infrastructure."

The Common Core digital assessments can bring real challenges for the average school district when it comes to having the necessary connectivity and technological capacity. Even districts that have started to invest heavily in new computers and other hardware are finding that they underestimated the need for devices during the exam and will have to stagger test schedules in order to make sure all students are able to take the assessment during the required window without disrupting other class time.

New online testing requires schools to inventory their IT infrastructure.New online testing requires schools to inventory their IT infrastructure.

Schools look to enhance tech infrastructure before test season
To help school districts get ready for the Common Core tests, the two main organizations responsible for designing the test – the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium and the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers – have run pilot tests to identify any bugs in the system and are planning to stage more elaborate and comprehensive field tests of the exam closer to the launch date.

Smarter Balanced and PARCC have also each published their own minimum and recommended guidelines for the hardware, software and bandwidth required to deliver the assessments properly. Both organizations offered similar recommendations, suggesting that districts employing devices running on Microsoft operating systems use Windows 7 or higher and those running on Macs utilize version 10.7 or higher. In an attempt to guard against interruptions caused by schools' lack of connectivity, PARCC is making it possible for schools and districts to take advantage of caching, in which administrators download encrypted tests to local servers prior to the exam in order to reduce strain on local bandwidth. Smarter Balanced is not recommending schools use caching for their tests – instead the organization is relying on a process that transmits student responses to a central server bank immediately after an answer is given and protects those answers internally.

Clearly there is still a lot of work to be done within most school districts in order for them to be ready to administer the new Common Core assessments. The most reliable way for schools to ensure they will be capable of providing the connectivity and technological infrastructure necessary is to partner with a trusted service providers. The experts at ISG Technology have decades of industry experience to offer and are able to create a customized program that will meet individual school's needs. ISG enables districts to access the support and network capacity necessary for a successful deployment.

Enterprise adoption of cloud dramatically increases as users see tangible benefits

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Even though the cloud has been around for many years now, it seems like every year is the year when the technology is supposed to finally make it into the mainstream. Enterprises have increased adoption of the cloud in recent years, however, and now it seems that the technology is finally being implemented because of its real-world user benefits instead of purely based on hype. While companies once simply deployed cloud solutions because they knew they needed to invest in the technology to stay ahead of the curve, now organizations are looking for cloud platforms that can solve tangible business problems.

"94% of IT departments are expected to increase cloud use over the next 12 months."

The realization of its real-world benefits is causing cloud services to see dramatically increased adoption, with rates growing between 30 and 40 percent annually for the next five years, according to a recent report from Rise. According to the study, 94 percent of IT departments are expected to increase their use of cloud computing over the next year.

Research from other analyst firms have also found that enterprise interest in the cloud is growing. A recent report by IDC found that spending on cloud services will have created nearly 14 million jobs worldwide between 2011 and the end of this year. The top three industries expected to benefit the most from jobs created by cloud computing are communications and media, banking and manufacturing.

"For most organizations, cloud computing should be a no-brainer, given its ability to increase IT innovation and flexibility, lower capital costs, and help generate revenues that are multiples of spending," said IDC chief research officer and senior vice president John Gantz. "Enterprises that embrace cloud computing reduce the amount of IT time and budget devoted to legacy systems and routine upgrades, which then increases the time and budget they have for more innovative projects. When IT innovation happens, business innovation is reached, which then supports job creation."

Enterprise cloud investments are yielding real world benefits.Enterprise cloud investments are yielding real world benefits.

Clearly research has shown that businesses are realizing enough benefits from the cloud that they are dramatically increasing their investments in the technology. But what exactly are the advantages they are experiencing?

Modernization
The current tech landscape is changing so rapidly that even companies that try and stay ahead of the curve can suddenly find themselves using out-of-date systems and hardware in seemingly no time at all. Using the cloud allows companies to stay nimble and adapt to a changing enterprise environment without the need for large upfront investments or complete system overhauls. The cloud also makes it easy to test new programs and applications without causing too much internal disruption.  

Improved mobile access
One of the original reasons cloud computing became such a popular concept in the enterprise is because of its ability to connect people together from multiple locations at once as if they were in the same room. Employing the cloud for business allows organizations to hire the best candidate for the job no matter where they may be located, as well as quickly and easily enter foreign markets without dramatically increasing costs.

Reduction of internal IT resources
For many businesses in which IT isn't a core competency, it can be difficult to support the appropriate internal IT resources to run the company. By implementing a cloud solution, organizations can rely on a third-party provider to do much of the heavy lifting – maintaining servers, updating systems, keeping an eye on security issues, etc. For smaller companies without the budgets to hire the necessary IT staff or even larger companies that don't want to handle such tasks themselves, the cloud is a reliable option that offers enormous benefits with little hassle.

Businesses look toward converged infrastructures to boost data center performance

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As collecting and storing data becomes an increasingly critical part of the enterprise, businesses are starting to pay more attention to the infrastructure needed to handle such key workloads. In order to ensure reliable operations with such an influx of information, data center operators are turning to a variety of innovative methods to improve data handling while lowering costs. One of the most popular of these methods is convergence.

Practically every major cloud platform provider now offers some type of converged infrastructure, and some are even going so far as to realign their business models to work more effectively with the concept. HP is one such company that is making major strides toward accepting convergence architecture. The tech giant is looking to combine blade servers and its CI division to increase the speed of development and provide channel partners with more integrated solutions that help deployment and integration processes happen more quickly.

Convergence is the way of the future for <a data-cke-saved-href=Convergence is the way of the future for data center operations.

Changes to networking essential for improved data management
When talking about a converged infrastructure, the key element is networking. Server and storage components function basically the same in a converged solution as they would traditionally, but they work in closer proximity to one another. However, as convergence gains more popularity among service providers, networking will evolve to become more of a fabric architecture, according to Information Age contributor Ben Rossi. This change will bring about a variety of challenges.

"As convergence gains more popularity, networking will have to evolve."

Providers will have to take a different approach to virtual networking. Provisioning and setup may be possible with only a simple overlay, but such a solution may inhibit performance as scale increases. A high degree of application awareness will also be necessary to optimize performance in key workloads, meaning simple automation won't be enough to deliver an optimal user experience. In order to address this issue, converged platforms will have to be provisioned to address specific workloads and support an overarching, integrated architecture that allows for simplified migration and data connectivity.

One of the biggest mistakes enterprises make when changing their internal IT infrastructure is trying to do all of the work themselves despite a lack of training and expertise. In order to avoid this common problem, enterprise decision-makers should work alongside a trusted service provider to ensure a successful implementation. By working together with a reliable industry partner, companies can create a customized infrastructure that works for them.

Airlines starting to feel at home with the cloud

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One of the reasons the cloud has become such a popular enterprise technology is because of its ability to reduce costs while simultaneously improving efficiency and effectiveness. One group that has started to embrace this benefit is the airline industry. The sector’s business environment is fiercely competitive, and companies have gone to great lengths to cut costs in the midst of stiff competition from budget operations offering bargains. Cloud computing could be a game changer for the industry, however, enabling airlines to face their challenges head on and adapt to a rapidly changing market. IBM cloud analyst and Forbes contributor Maamar Ferkoun noted that there are two main areas in which the cloud could help companies improve.

Client experience 
It’s difficult to find someone who has flown on a plane that doesn’t have something bad to say about an airline. As such, quality client service is one way new airlines are differentiating themselves from major carriers. Cloud technologies offer the ability to deliver passenger services like luggage stands with label printing and self-boarding gates that allow travelers to take control of the process and reduce pain points. The systems are based on the data collected when passengers  booking and check-in for their flights. The same systems also include the information necessary for visas and security clearance, and is easily accessible by airline staff in case something were to go wrong or a traveler needs assistance.

The cloud is the ideal platform upon which to launch these types of programs because it eliminates the need to expand IT infrastructure or increase the workforce to accommodate the changes, because service providers are capable of catering to the scalability and agility required. With a third party handling the technology side of operations, airlines are free to focus on their main priority: travelers.

The cloud is helping airlines make traveling easier.The cloud is helping airlines make traveling easier.

Equipment maintenance
It’s obviously a critical aspect of an airline’s business to ensure that its planes are kept in good working order. Carriers need to be able to order, replace and maintain all of the necessary components of an aircraft, as well as stay up-to-date on the most recent safety guidelines, regulatory requirements, aircraft servicing logs and technology. The cloud makes keeping track of all of these separate yet intertwined areas much simpler. Virgin America and WestJet are just some of the airlines that have already adopted cloud solutions to manage their aircraft maintenance records.

“Forty-nine percent of airports expect to evaluate cloud services over the next three years.”

It’s not just individual airlines that are realizing the benefits of the cloud, either. Airports have started to experience advantages by adopting the technology. In fact, 49 percent of airports expect to evaluate cloud services through trials and pilot studies over the next three years, according to the Air Transport Industry Insights Airport IT Trend Survey of 2013. The report also predicted that major programs dedicated to cloud computing will account for 22 percent of new infrastructure initiatives in the airline industry by next year. As air travel continues to be positively impacted by the cloud, investment in the technology will only grow larger and passengers will start to reap the benefits.

Enterprises turn to the cloud to spur innovation, differentiation

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Now that every company has embraced some form of technology in order to enhance their business offerings, a growing number of organizations are making competitive differentiation a priority in an effort to gain an edge in the market. A recent report by IDC revealed that enterprises are frequently employing cloud computing services in order to achieve this differentiation through the innovative capabilities they offer. The cloud allows businesses to access advanced analytics and collaboration capabilities, as well as to test new technologies that will provide a rich client experience and increase time to market for new products and services.

“Using the cloud, teams can create and test their ideas in just days or weeks instead of the months.”

Cloud platforms have proven to be the most reliable environment within which to convert ideas into applications. Using the cloud as a common platform to develop on, teams can create and test their ideas in just days or weeks instead of the months or years it would take using traditional means. The ability to create and develop at a much quicker pace means organizations can find out earlier if their ideas will succeed or fail, allowing them to invest and risk less money in the process.

Organizations are rapidly adopting cloud services to increase innovation.Organizations are rapidly adopting cloud services to increase innovation.

Top areas of enterprise focus all centered on cloud
IDC’s Australia Ecosystem Study 2014 discovered that the five IT categories that are likely going to receive the biggest increase in spending in 2015 are business continuity and disaster recovery solutions, business analytics, infrastructure audit, IT service management and security. All of these segments can be achieved through cloud services, reflecting an increased maturity of cloud computing and a broader acceptance of the technology from business and IT.

“As we look ahead to 2015 and beyond, the industry is entering the most critical period yet in the third platform era: the ‘innovation stage,’ primarily characterized by value creation across industries and a new wave of core technologies that radically extend the third platforms’ capabilities and applications,” said Raj Mudaliar, senior market analyst for IT and cloud services research at IDC Australia.

According to the report, platform-as-a-service and cloud storage services will be the two fastest growing categories. An increase in the number of big data initiatives being deployed and the use of such services from the developer community has been driving much of the adoption. More companies are realizing the multitude of benefits that cloud services offer them and are leveraging those advantages to spur innovation
.

Moving to the cloud? Better have a strategy in place

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As an increasing number of organizations begin to transition from legacy systems to those hosted in the cloud, there is a growing trend of CIOs being left out in the cold when it comes to deployment.  IT departments are shrinking within enterprises from every industry, creating a shortage of skilled workers with the ability to implement effective cloud programs while still keeping information secure. While the cloud should be employed across all business units, security and compliance must remain primary concerns and that can't happen without knowledgeable decision makers involved.

For organizations lacking the manpower to do all the heavy lifting themselves, deploying resources and applications on an "as-a-service" basis allows CIOs to create the cloud strategy that best suits their needs while leaving the details to a trusted service provider. Before utilizing Infrastructure-as-a-Service, however, companies need to make sure they have a strong cloud sourcing strategy in place that ensures they will receive the best user experience available and be able to respond quickly and effectively to changing market conditions.

Know what you're working with        
It's important for IT decision-makers to know where they stand before with their existing infrastructure before they will be able to implement a new one. Conducting an inventory of a company's cloud consumption allows CIOs to get a grasp on what services are working and what isn't, as well as uncovering any instances of shadow IT. According to Cloud Tweaks contributor Nick Earle, many companies that complete an audit of their cloud use find that the use of unauthorized cloud applications is 10 times higher than they expected. Shadow IT presents a major security risk for enterprises, as a large portion of the data stored within those applications is unencrypted and not secured with a password.

Examining which applications were used without IT input can help decision-makers understand what employees are looking for from the company's cloud strategy and allow for more informed adoption with the new strategy. It also presents an opportunity for CIOs to explain the security risks of utilizing unauthorized programs, creating a learning experience for the entire company.

Look ahead
Successfully deploying a cloud infrastructure doesn't only entail creating an environment that address an enterprise's immediate needs, it also includes provisions for the changes in the future. Currently, the Internet of Things is causing quite a stir among IT departments as companies struggle to find a way to integrate this growing technology into an existing infrastructure. By 2020, more than 50 billion devices are expected to be connected to the IoT, posing a problem for organizations without a flexible strategy in place. No one knows what the future will hold in terms of business technology, but those who aren't able to adapt to new changes quickly will be left behind by their competitors that can, so an agile IT environment is absolutely necessary in retaining competitive advantage.

Focus on flexibility
One of the biggest mistakes enterprises make when employing a cloud infrastructure is utilizing a platform that doesn't fit all the needs of the business. Many focus either on a private environment that offers the security necessary to keep data safe but isn't agile enough to support rapidly changing business segments, or a public solution that offers the access needed but leaves information unprotected. To combat this problem CIOs should focus on a flexible infrastructure that is able to handle both tasks with ease.

By partnering with a trusted third-party service provider, companies can create a customized infrastructure that works for them. Innovative as-a-service options enable CIOs and other IT decision-makers to control the enterprise environment while still being able to access the necessary flexibility to move business forward.

Protect against data center downtime with cloud disaster recovery

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As technology becomes a bigger part of people's everyday lives, the systems and facilities that house the data we need are more important than ever. So when these things experience problems that cause downtime, the effects can be catastrophic.

Such was the case last week when the generator room of a Maryland State Police building had a small fire and caused an outage of the force's data center. According to the Baltimore Sun, the downtime denied state troopers access to central crime databases and caused the state police website to be offline for an afternoon. In an interview with the Sun, a police spokeswoman said that the outage made it impossible for police officers around the state to access shared documents, making it difficult for work to continue as normal.

The fire occurred while the data center was operating on generator power during a planned IT maintenance period. A small fire started in the generator room which caused the sprinklers to activate and the water shut the generator down.

While fires are a rather rare occurrence, they do still occur in data centers around the world. In 2013, Michigan's Macomb County lost IT services after its data center facility had a fire. More recently, a Samsung data center in South Korea experienced a fire in April that affected access to the network used by Samsung device users across the globe.

Severe weather biggest data center threat
Instead of a fire, most companies are more likely to experience data center connectivity problems due to severe weather conditions or unreliable power supplies. It doesn't matter what causes the downtime if a response plan isn't in place ahead of time. According to a recent federal IT survey by SolarWinds, more than 20 percent of participants admitted they didn't have a disaster preparedness strategy in their organization.

In order to avoid the downtime and mitigation costs that come along with a data center disruption, it is important for organizations to back up their information at a remote site or in the cloud to maintain access during an outage. Utilizing the cloud as a disaster recovery solution enables companies to access remote network management. This allows IT managers to remotely manage and fix the problems affecting a network so they don't have to brave the same storm that knocked out the data center in the first place.