We backup and restore peoples data and when they sign up with our channel partners they are frequently told to just protect my information, you’re the experts…. This is a bad idea as it sets an expectation that you the provider are responsible for everything and also that you can get them restored in a time that is adequate for them RTO (Recovery Time Objective).
The problem is that most providers never ask their clients what this RTO means to them and how do you achieve it. I think the first thing is to understand what data you have and how it needs to be recovered and in what time frame because let’s be honest, those old files being saved from 4 years ago while might be important but not critical in the restoration process to get them up and running. Does the client really need that data restored now in the event of a catastrophic event? or later once they are up and functioning properly again?
They want their CRM (Customer Releationship Management) , Accounting files, maybe production items things that make the company go tick tok. By tiring your data and valuing it you can help people and yourself better reach a realistic expectation of a recovery time objective. Be open and honest with your information, 50GB takes roughly 9.5 hours over a t-1 line can you wait that long to be up and running ?
