Even Cloud Providers Needs Disaster Planning- Ask Amazon

Even Cloud Providers have Major Outages

Just to make sure you are aware, even cloud providers have outages. On February 28th, 2017, Amazon Web Services had an outage that lasted about four hours. You can read more about this outage here.

This just goes to prove that nothing is guaranteed not to fail. Amazon Web Services (AWC) is one of the top cloud providers in the nation and has some of the most robust redundancy and disaster planning available. Regardless, when AWC has an issue, all customers will feel the pain.

So, Should You Not Go to the Cloud?

This is absolutely NOT what we are saying. You do, however, need to be aware that outages still occur. Most people do not realize that there are ways to create disaster planning and backups to the cloud so you can continue to operate during an outage. Many of the people that do realize this, are not aware of the latest updates to technology that have made pricing much more reasonable.

So, depending on how valuable it is for you to always be up and operational (one of the reasons people move to the cloud), you may want to investigate your disaster routing plan for your cloud services.

So How Would It Work?

The most common solution that we are aware of through our Houston Managed IT Services is a product called Datto. Datto can deliver a device that you can store on site or in a CoLo. This device replicates your data from the cloud and makes it readily available for you to operate off of this device or from their cloud. For more details on this device, a quick video and some diagrams, just visit .

Does Everyone Need to Do This?

No, just like all business decisions, you have to investigate the cost vs. reward for your business. One tool to help you analyze this is your cost per hour of not having your data accessible. A helpful tool we use all the time is located here. For pricing on such devices, you can search the web or contact our Houston Managed IT Services department. A consultant can help with pricing, design and business cases. If nothing else, you will at least understand if that 4 hours of downtime was truly costly or just a nuisance.

By contacting ICS’s Houston Managed IT Services for a proposal, you will also receive our FREE IT Security Assessment. To understand the value of this assessment, please read our blog explaining what is included with examples of the reports. As always, we are here to help. We would love to work with you on all of your Houston Managed IT Support needs!