5 Essential BDR Features for Your MSP Practice

rsz_peterobbins Searching for the right backup and disaster recovery (BDR) solution can be a daunting task for any managed services provider (MSP) scrambling to put together the right offering for its customers. What should MSPs look for in a solution? Which features should a solution have? We reached out to MSP Strata Information Technology, Inc President Pete Robbins (pictured) to find out the most important BDR features. Here's the scoop.

Robbins said the BDR conversation always starts with disaster experiences in the past: money loss, downtime, lost files or folders, and unrecoverable servers. Once the company identifies one or more sources of loss, the company then discusses potential BDR solutions for that particular customer.

"As we have developed our MSP offerings over the years, we tried to patch together various solutions to backup our clients systems," he said.

According to Robbins, every BDR solution should have the following five features:

Automation – A solution that automates backup 100 percent is the way to go, Robbins said. "Too many times we come across a business that has a backup solution where backups require manual intervention to happen, the backups are never tested and backups rarely get sent offsite."
Speed – Customers want instant gratification. Data should always be accessible and available. "Gone are the days of waiting hours, days or weeks for file & folder recoveries, or worse having a major system offline for extended period of times," he added.
Virtualization – Don't be afraid: Guarantee that a replacement server will be up and running in under an hour to your customers, Robbins suggested. "You might be afraid to throw a guarantee on anything, but with a managed BDR you can be confident that you can do that."
Offsite – Robbins said a true business continuity (BC) plan should include a way to send data offsuite, and, if possible, have the ability to virtualize servers remotely. "It's a low cost insurance plan against catastrophic failure," he said.
Monitoring – "Any good backup solution needs to come with a good MSP behind it," Robbins said. A customer needs an MSP to monitor, manage and provide file and folder recoveries.

To learn more about services provided by StrataIT, visit the company's website.

Original Page: http://www.mspmentor.net/?p=50114

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