Disaster recovery planning became a secondary concern for many businesses last year as the pressures of the faltering world economy caused a squeeze on IT budgets. As a result many began to look to cost-effective alternatives, whilst others were force to freeze plans for improved strategies whilst a return to growth was sought.
Disaster recovery and data security expert Pierre Dorion has made predictions as to where the industry is going to head over the next twelve months and he believes that cloud computing and data outsourcing are going to grow significantly in 2010.
The resilience offered by outsourcing data storage and backup to third party vendors offering cloud computing was listed as the third most important reason behind businesses choosing to switch to the platform according to a survey released in mid 2009. With funding for IT departments still in limbo because of the economy, Mr Dorion believes that the lower cost of outsourcing compared to setting up on-site data centres will further fuel the growth of the industry.
Mr Dorion also believes that many big businesses will look to cloud computing as a way of offsetting the cost of implementing a disaster recovery strategy, as it can provide the same level of functionality without requiring the initial outlay and resources that a centralised system mandates.
Industry analyst Gartner said at a recent conference that it estimates that 15 per cent of enterprises will rely on both on-site infrastructures and cloud-based public services to ensure that their businesses can continue to run in the event of a disaster.
It is also believed that businesses will seek to automate a majority of their data protection and storage systems to lessen the impact of human error and avoid serious but avoidable instances of data loss. This will require a combination of server and desktop virtualisation, allowing users to access remotely the applications and files with which they are familiar and allowing for home working if, for example, the travel infrastructure of the country breaks down again as it did during the recent cold snap.
