As we look to the new year, it’s the perfect time to evaluate whether your business is prepared to face future disruptions. Backing up your data is only part of a strong business continuity strategy in today’s digital world.
Cloud-based backup, Backup as a Service (BaaS), is a step up from onsite tape backup to be sure. However, its primary purpose remains to safeguard your data. It doesn’t address how quickly your business can get back online. That’s where Disaster Recovery as a Service (DRaaS) comes in, ensuring the rapid recovery of critical systems. Pairing BaaS with DRaaS is fast becoming a go-to approach for a solid business continuity and disaster recovery (BCDR) strategy. Indeed, 88 percent of organizations intend to use both BaaS and DRaaS within the next two years, according to Veeam’s 2024 Data Protection Trends Report.
In this blog, we’ll explore the core differences between BaaS and DRaaS, why your business may need both and how to choose the right managed service provider (MSP) for improved resilience in the coming year and beyond.
What is the Difference Between BaaS & DRaaS?
Protecting your business from the unexpected starts with understanding the difference between BaaS and DRaaS. Both are key to a solid business continuity plan but play very different roles. Here’s a quick look at what sets them apart:
- BaaS is a cloud-based service that securely stores copies of your data, allowing you to retrieve it in case of data loss or corruption. The primary goal in implementing BaaS is to prevent data loss. It safeguards your data without providing immediate operational continuity.
- DRaaS is a cloud-based service that replicates critical IT systems and data, enabling failover in the event of a disaster to maintain business operations. DRaaS also offers advanced capabilities like replication, failover and failback, which allow operations to resume quickly, even if your primary systems are compromised.
The primary difference between these two cloud-based services is that BaaS is focused on preventing data loss, while DRaaS is designed to minimize downtime and preserve operational continuity. Additionally, BaaS allows you to retrieve data, but DRaaS goes further, enabling complete system recovery and keeping your business operational during and after a disruption. While each solution offers unique benefits, they can complement one another as part of your BCDR plan.
Why Consider DRaaS?
If keeping your business running during unexpected disruptions is a priority, DRaaS could be the solution you need. As noted, it’s designed to help you minimize downtime and maintain continuity when it matters most. Consider DRaaS if your company has the following requirements:
- High Availability— DRaaS provides failover capabilities to deliver uptime for customer-facing applications, which BaaS alone cannot fulfill.
- Compliance & Risk Management— DRaaS adds a layer of protection against legal and financial risks associated with downtime, helping your business meet strict regulatory compliance standards.
- Mission-critical Operations— DRaaS ensures your essential operations can continue even when your primary systems are impacted, preventing or reducing business productivity or revenue loss.
- Stringent Recovery Objectives— DRaaS offers rapid restoration of systems and data to meet short recovery time objectives (RTOs) or recovery point objectives (RPOs).
- Flexible Disaster Response— DRaaS offers the flexibility to respond to various disaster scenarios, from natural disasters to cyberattacks, making sure your data and systems are resilient.
Why You Need Both BaaS & DRaaS
Protecting your business requires more than just backing up data. Combining BaaS and DRaaS helps keep your information safe and your systems running during disruptions. Here’s why this combination is so impactful for business continuity:
- Operational Continuity— While BaaS secures your data, DRaaS keeps essential systems and applications accessible so your business remains operational.
- Speed of Recovery— BaaS gets you back to business relatively fast, restoring your data in hours or days. DRaaS, which initiates secondary infrastructure, enables your business to recover far more quickly after an incident, often within minutes, reducing costly downtime.
- Comprehensive Coverage— DRaaS goes beyond the data protection BaaS offers to support both on-premises and cloud systems, building a resilient infrastructure across all areas of your business.
- Proactive Risk Management— Combining BaaS and DRaaS helps you address both data loss and system recovery, offering a proactive approach to managing your business continuity risks.
What to Look for in a DRaaS Provider
Choosing the right DRaaS provider can make all the difference in keeping your business running smoothly during a disruption. The best providers offer more than just backups—they deliver fast recovery, strong security and the flexibility to grow with your needs. Look for these benefits when evaluating potential providers:
- Rapid Recovery— Look for a track record of meeting stringent RTOs, ensuring minimal downtime for your business following an incident.
- Real-Time Data Replication— Confirm that your data will be synchronized with your live environment in real-time to minimize data loss during a disaster and speed recovery.
- Data Security & Compliance— Check for high-level encryption and compliance with industry-specific data protection regulations to safeguard your data, meet legal requirements and maintain trust with customers and stakeholders.
- Automated Failover— Automated failover is necessary to avoid prolonged disruptions during a disaster.
- Scalability & Flexibility— Seek support for both cloud and on-premises data replication to enable flexibility as your business needs evolve.
Why Choose Cox Business for Business Continuity
Incorporating DRaaS with your BaaS solution provides a comprehensive safety net, safeguarding your data while maintaining operational continuity. With Cox Business, you can count on an advanced DRaaS solution that minimizes downtime, protects critical systems and keeps your business resilient to unexpected events. Whether facing natural disasters or IT disruptions, Cox Business’s DRaaS solutions give you the peace of mind to focus on growth, knowing your business continuity is secure.
