Managed Services
Questions You Should Ask your Disaster Recovery Provider
As technology becomes more complex and costs continue to rise, many companies are moving to managed hosting and integrated disaster recovery services to save money, increase uptime and to protect their most valuable asset; their data. With so much at stake, you need to ask these fundamental, business-critical questions and compare the DBSi Advantage.
| Rehearsal Time | The DBSi Advantage |
| Could you fully test your environment in 8 or even 16 hours? | Most providers rush clients through the rehearsal process and when your time is up, you have to get out, whether you’re done or not. At DBSi, we give you 24 hours blocks of time and provide a cushion between clients to allow for unexpected issues. Unresolved problems during a rehearsals are usually the thing that may make or break your ability to recovery in the case of an actual disaster. |
| Is one test per year really enough? | At DBSi we believe rehearsals are the bedrock of successful recoveries, during your first year we encourage two rehearsals period of 24 hours. Subsequent years many times will have one, but if you need more tests per year to ensure your processes are fully functioning, DBSi will work out a schedule to suit your needs. |
| Location & Facilities | The DBSi Advantage |
| Does the provider have local workspace recovery facilities in the event your building cannot be occupied? | DBSi can accommodate up to 1,450 personnel in our modern office suites which are secured by card access and video surveillance. Your phone calls can come transparently into our environment. You have your own voicemail and phone trees with total control with complete isolation from the rest of the network. You also benefit from having your own isolated LAN for secure networking. Conference rooms and, private executive offices meeting space are also available. Our workspace recovery suites come equipped with:
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| Do their data centers have redundant power, cooling and Internet access? Are they Tier 1, 2, 3, or 4 power compliant? | DBSi data centers have redundant power, cooling, fire suppression, fiber and telecom providers. We are the only regional provider that offers Internet with access points in the Midwest, New England & Eastern PA. DBSi Advanced Technology Centers are a minimum of Tier 2 power capable and can support up to tier 4 requirements. |
Is the provider located in or near any of the following high-risk locations?
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DBSi regional facilities are located in safe office parks, a reverse commute in rush hour traffic and away from high risks such as large cities, federal office buildings, high profile companies, etc. |
| Customer-to-Server Ratio | The DBSi Advantage |
| How many different customers typically share the same server? | If the ratio is high, the likelihood of getting access to equipment when you need it will be low. We give clients the option of dedicated equipment but if it doesn’t fit your needs and budget, take comfort in our commitment to having the region’s lowest asset to customer-to-server ratio. |
| Is traveling across the country to another recovery site viable if the local site is full? | With most providers, larger organizations gain access to equipment before smaller companies. At DBSi, we guarantee you access to equipment at one of our regional facilities, no matter what size your company is. |
| Contract Terms & Conditions | The DBSi Advantage |
| How does the provider handle service reductions or increases during the term of the contract? | We allow you to reduce service levels and the associated fees by up to 10% annually or increase needed services without making you extend your contract. |
| Does the contract increase annually and renew automatically? | We offer fixed fees for the life of the contract and don’t automatically renew the contract for an equal term at expiration. |
| Would you like to be able to utilize your subscribed equipment for more than just DR? | We believe in providing clients what they want. For some clients, that means hosting production or test/dev environments on your dedicated recovery equipment something many providers aren’t willing to do. |
| Does your DR provider allow you to bring contracted equipment onto your premises for incident recovery where you have lost a handful of servers or some storage or a switch but the bulk of your IT infrastructure is operational? | Incident Recovery is a standard component of DBSi’s service. This equipment is a stop-gap until your equipment is repaired or replacements arrive. It is just another of our common sense approaches to ensure client satisfaction. |
Advanced Workspace Recovery Facilities
One of our clients, a large investment firm, is located near a major river that hadn’t flooded in 75 years. All that changed a few years ago when unusually strong spring storms caused the river to crest.The city shut down the entire street in advance of the coming disaster.
Everyone in the company was expecting the disruption to be difficult, and their temporary workspace to be the uncomfortable, exposed, loud and non-private typical with other workspace recovery providers.
Fortunately, all of their data and email was hosted at DBSi. We quickly replicated their environment and for five days, the entire staff of 35 relocated to one of DBSi’s spacious, secure, private and well-appointed workspace continuity suites. Business as usual.