Disaster recovery and business continuity (DR/BC) planning is nothing new, but the mid-2010s and early 2020s are poised to show the explosive growth of a new player: cloud-based Disaster Recovery as a Service (DRaaS) applications. In reports from Transparency Market Research, the data suggest that the DRaaS market segment will grow to over $21 billion by 2024 – an exponential increase from a mere $1.29 billion in 2016.
In a way, it’s no surprise that cloud services are growing in the disaster recovery field: geographic diversity has always been a watchword of disaster recovery, and the cloud is geographic diversity in computing writ large.
IT Pros Have Confidence in DRaaS
Cloud computing itself is a mature enough technology that IT professionals are generally comfortable turning to it as a solution – for software, business infrastructure, data management, and analytics, as well as for disaster recovery. This familiarity breeds confidence with the growing DRaaS market; in fact, 90% of professionals who employ a cloud-supported DR/BC strategy report confidence in their forward planning, compared to just under 75% of those who don’t.
DRaaS Options
The umbrella term of DRaaS can disguise the fact that cloud-based disaster recovery isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution. There are a number of different ways in which disaster recovery can be moved (partially or totally) into the cloud, as well as a spectrum of implementation options. Some businesses may opt for a managed solution in which an external team of experts oversees monitoring, management, service updates, and other logistical issues.
Other businesses – either with more specific and exacting implementation requirements, or an internal team of disaster recovery professionals on staff – may opt to use a colocation centers or other solutions which allow management to be kept in-house.
A Global Phenomenon
And the DRaaS field is primed to offer more and more options as time goes by. Drawn by the explosive growth potential of the sector, many new startups are arriving on the scene, offering a variety of packages. Most of these startups are in North America, Europe, and Asia, though Latin America, the Middle East, and Africa are also experiencing growth. Cloud-based disaster recovery is, indeed, a global phenomenon.
The challenges to DRaaS continue to be ease of implementation, cost, and security concerns, resolution of which are the focus of a great deal of effort on the part of DRaaS providers. As the sector continues to grow, companies can expect to see continuing improvements in these aspects of DRaaS, and it’s likely that data recovery in the cloud will become the rule rather than the exception.
If you’re considering a move to DRaaS, contact the experts at eXemplify today.