NewsFeaturesOutsourcingInfrastructure

Two in three organizations in the Asia Pacific would have less than half of their systems running when faced with a disaster, according to an IDC survey last year. That finding highlights not only the obvious - no organization should have the temerity to consider disaster recovery (DR) trivial - but also how many organizations lack the resources needed for more holistic and wider DR implementations beyond mission-critical applications.

Nonetheless, DR is likely to see wider adoption with cloud-based solutions that promise faster recovery from downtime and cost savings, making it an option for many organizations, including small and medium enterprises.

Leveraging on the cloud, Singapore-based Acclivis recently launched its 25,000 square-foot SS507:2008-certified center that provides integrated enterprise IT and DR solutions ranging from solution building and management services to business recovery.

"Our long-term business plan is to generate domain-specific vertical clouds that will enable industry players to come together and communicate, interact, collaborate and transact on a common platform," said Joshua Saw, CEO of Acclivis. "Such domain clouds will provide [value-added] services to our customers' business operations. In line with this vision, a DR cloud is already in place, [offering business continuity] services to companies."

SS507:2008 is the Singapore Standard that describes the basic practices that both in-house and outsourced DR service providers should adopt to mitigate outsourcing risks and ensure consistent quality service. For instance, service providers must address the unique requirements of individual organizations in their contracts, including encryption, secured operation procedures, equipment, personnel and application documentation.

The SS507:2008 forms a major part of the International Standard ISO/IEC 24762 Guidelines for DR services. Requirements of the SS507:2008 certification cover facilities and services for DR; fallback and recovery support for an organization's ICT systems; capabilities and practices to provide basic secure operating environments and facilitate recovery efforts; and continuous improvements.

The newly opened facility offers a suite of DR services, including a round-the-clock service desk and network operation center for technical support and threat monitoring services. A command and work area recovery center provides an alternative work location for mission-critical business functions during a disaster.

Apart from its DR facility, the service provider has also built a dedicated Tier 3+ data center featuring power and fire protection systems. Targeting a wide range of industries, particularly banking, insurance, life sciences, retail and logistics, Acclivis aims to be a one-stop, end-to-end IT solutions provider in the region, expanding from its existing bases in Singapore and Indonesia.

"However, DR facilities and business continuity alone are not enough [from a business resilience perspective]," said Nathaniel Forbes, director of Forbes Calamity Prevention Pte Ltd. "[For example], the number one lesson learned in any disaster is there should've been better communication. In this day and age, we have all the tools but we don't seem to learn the lesson.

"We started with disaster recovery and in the last 10 to 15 years, we spent a lot of time on business continuity. The most advanced companies now look at this as a holistic process [encompassing] emergency, crisis, disaster, business continuity, risk, IT, security and human resource management. These together contribute to organizational business resilience."

Achieving such resilience is a challenge for most companies, Forbes pointed out. "Those functions are farmed out to different departments so no one really knows [who is leading the process]. There is a lot more work to do and if you don't believe me, you're part of a large segment of the population that has the number one strategy in a disaster - pray."