Organisations across the region have encountered some of the most dynamic and unpredictable disruptions to their business operations over the last few years. These disruptions have not spared even the largest and most IT-savvy organisations, with many of them experiencing high-profile and complex cyberattacks, defacement of their corporate websites, DDoS attacks, and unscheduled downtime for applications and infrastructure. Enterprises realise that such unpredictable disruptions will continue to happen, and there is a growing acknowledgement that they must now develop effective strategies for bringing their operations back to normal in the most efficient way with minimal — or acceptable — loss.

In today’s world, businesses operating without a disaster recovery strategy are running a high risk of failure. The aftermath of a disruption can reach any extent — right from revenue loss, customer churn, and lawsuits, to a complete shutdown of the business in extreme cases. Against this backdrop, it is not only critical, but also inevitable, that organisations implement tried-and-tested business continuity and disaster recovery (BC/DR) strategies.

There are multiple options available to organisations as they travel down the road towards implementing a BC/DR strategy — dedicated, managed, and hosted. Selecting the right model has significant implications for the ultimate success of the BC/DR strategy, meaning that any time spent exploring these options is time well spent.

Each model has its benefits, challenges, and unique value propositions. The dedicated DR model offers complete control over the IT infrastructure, the data that is mirrored, and other resources. However, setting up a dedicated DR site is complex, resource intensive, and requires significant financial investment, time, and specialised skills. Furthermore, the organisation must be prepared to face recurring expenses on infrastructure upgrades, boatloads of storage and servers, and, most importantly, security infrastructure.

Another option is to own the infrastructure but outsource the day-to-day operations to a service provider under a managed services contract. And in the hosted BC/DR environment, the service provider not only owns the DR site/datacenter infrastructure, but can also better manage the site. This latter option enables the customer to get started quickly with little or no CAPEX. It also facilitates hassle-free management, access to the very latest technology, and the use of specialised skills, thereby further strengthening the value proposition of hosted BC/DR services.

In a market that is plagued with a shortage of specialised IT skills, as well as continuously increasing costs, setting up a dedicated DR site is a challenge for many organisations. Compounding the issue is the fact that many of today’s CIOs are looking to drive IT innovation in their organisations, but continue to struggle with the lack of capacity required to focus on such projects. Therefore, having a third party take ownership of a complex service like BC/DR enables CIOs and IT heads to focus more on their core activities, rather than on mundane procedures aimed at simply ‘keeping the lights on’.

Managed BC/DR services offer a strong proposition, adding significant value and delivering considerable cost savings for the CIO. The concept behind this delivery model is relatively straightforward; the service provider guarantees backup and restore procedures, delivery guidelines, and a set time for data restoration in the event of a disaster, all under stringent service-level agreements (SLAs). The service provider takes complete ownership of managing the DR requirements of the organisation, including the required datacenter infrastructure, connectivity, mirroring solutions/services, archiving, replication, IT infrastructure, specialised IT staff, IT and physical security, and SLAs.

In light of these benefits, IDC has seen a continuous rise in the adoption of managed BC/DR services in the UAE over the last couple of years. And as well as delivering significant CAPEX and OPEX savings, this growing trend is enabling CIOs to create additional capacity within their organisations to drive other projects and enhance innovation.

The results of IDC’s ‘Middle East CIO Survey, 2014’ show that 54% of organisations in the region plan to invest in BC/DR solutions during 2014 and 2015, while 43% have an existing BC/DR solution in place. The key advantages derived by these organisations through their adoption of managed BC/DR services include:

Cost savings in both capex and open by not investing in a dedicated DR

Rapid access to scalability whenever required

Proactive alignment of BC/DR needs as per business changes

Access to the latest technology and best-of-breed IT security solutions

Hassle-free management and additional bandwidth to drive innovation

In summary, IDC believes that BC/DR services will continue to become an integral part of business and IT strategies across the whole gamut of industries and segments, with managed BC/DR, in particular, gaining significant adoption in the coming years.

The columnist is group vice-president and regional managing director for the Middle East, Africa, and Turkey at global ICT market intelligence and advisory firm International Data Corporation (IDC).