Modern companies rely heavily on their computing environment to run mission-critical processes and address customer expectations. Unexpected IT outages can cripple an organization’s ability to meet its responsibilities. Extended outages may result in a substantial loss of revenue and customers. In some cases, businesses are forced to close in the wake of an extended outage.
Companies must have a disaster recovery (DR) strategy in place to safeguard their IT environments and protect their businesses. VAST offers its customers a streamlined DR solution that allows you to failover your critical systems in as few as 30 minutes. Our solution ensures users can get back online quickly and restores access to vital data resources.
Why You Need a Disaster Recovery Strategy
An IT environment can be negatively impacted by a variety of issues beyond your control. Your company needs a DR strategy to protect itself from the following dangers.
- Ransomware and other types of destructive software can be devastating and are becoming increasingly difficult to prevent. Threat actors have launched sophisticated phishing campaigns to subvert cybersecurity measures and introduce malware into an IT environment. Unfortunately, a simple slip by a trusted employee can be responsible for allowing unauthorized access to the infrastructure and a costly ransomware attack.
- Recent global IT outages, such as the problems experienced with Crowdstrike software, highlight the vulnerabilities of Windows PCs. The faulty software update affected both servers and desktops in multiple companies around the world. Some companies took days to recover their critical systems, affecting their ability to maintain operations and potentially losing customers. A simple mistake somewhere in the software supply chain can have devastating consequences to unprepared organizations.
- Extreme weather events can also impact an IT environment. Companies affected by natural disasters such as hurricanes or floods may need to recover their computing systems in an alternate location. A cloud-based DR solution, such as the one offered by VAST, provides greater resiliency by enabling companies other than recover to a safe location.
Regardless of the origin of an IT outage, the effects are typically very similar. Windows servers and desktops are impacted, leading to processing delays and extended system downtime. Specific damages are related to the type of business affected by the outage.
Outages may make it impossible for financial organizations to process transactions, costing themselves and their customers substantial sums of money. Healthcare providers may be unable to access patient records, straining customer trust and satisfaction while exposing the organization to regulatory compliance issues. Manufacturers may find themselves without the critical systems they need to maintain operations and deliver goods to their customers.
In all cases, recovering quickly from a disaster is imperative in today’s competitive business landscape. Companies cannot afford to gamble with the safety and availability of their important IT environments.
VAST’s Effective and Efficient Disaster Recovery Solution
VAST understands the challenges companies face in recovering Windows-based systems and has developed a robust solution leveraging the AWS (Amazon Web Services) infrastructure to address them. Our top priority is to help you extend your infrastructure into the cloud while ensuring minimal data loss and seamless failover. We offer real-time data replication and a proven solution for failover in AWS, Azure, or on-premises environments.
VAST’s failover system takes advantage of the AWS infrastructure to provide high availability and resilience. AWS’s scalable cloud services employ automated replication and real-time data synchronization to ensure that when a primary server fails, a backup server takes over quickly. The result is that your mission-critical applications continue to run smoothly with minimal downtime.
The DR solution implements robust security measures to protect your company’s valuable data. Security features include:
- Encrypting data at rest and in transit;
- Enforcing strict access controls and authentication protocols;
- Performing regular security audits to ensure compliance and identify vulnerabilities.
Our system enables companies to failover all critical servers within 30 minutes or less with just a few clicks. The virtual desktop service allows for rapid recovery of desktops in the cloud, ensuring users can get back online as quickly as possible. This is an essential component of a DR strategy when supporting a remote workforce that depends on access to cloud desktops.
VAST’s virtual desktop solution offers several advantages over traditional DR procedures developed around on-premises recovery options. The advantages include:
- Scalability that allows you to easily adjust the number of virtual desktops as needed;
- Rapid deployment enabling you to spin up and recover desktops in the cloud within minutes;
- Cost efficiency by only paying for the resources you use;
- Enhanced accessibility by enabling employees to access desktops from anywhere.
Implementing Our DR Strategy
Customers interested in our cloud-based DR strategy must meet certain criteria to support the recovery processes. The criteria include ensuring compatible network configurations and sufficient bandwidth for data replication. Our team can provide a comprehensive assessment to ensure compatibility and optimal performance.
Once we have confirmed compatibility, customers should expect a straightforward integration process. Clients start by configuring their existing infrastructure to interface with our AWS-based system. We provide detailed guidance and support to ensure a smooth transition. The setup typically includes connecting existing servers and desktops to our failover system and configuring the virtual desktop environment.
Customer Results
Our streamlined DR solution has demonstrated significant effectiveness in various scenarios. A large e-commerce company reduced its recovery time from hours to minutes, resulting in a 40% decrease in downtime. The decrease led to increased customer satisfaction and profitability. A financial services organization enjoyed a 30% improvement in data recovery speed which minimized operational disruptions during system failures.
Customer testimonials demonstrate the effectiveness of our DR solution. One customer reported that “VAST’s solution transformed our disaster recovery process. We experienced a seamless transition during an outage, and our team was back online within minutes.” Another satisfied client said, “The virtual desktop service allowed our remote team to continue working without disruption, which was crucial during the recent IT crisis.”
Schedule a Free Demo
Ready to experience seamless failover and recovery? Call or email us and schedule a free demo with Brandon, VAST’s Cloud Architect to see how we can safeguard your operations and ensure a fast and effective recovery.
