In an era where cyber threats, data disruptions, and cloud complexity are top business concerns, ensuring continuous availability is paramount.

In this month’s LATG Cyber Chat, Don’t Let Downtime Get You Down, Phil McManamon and Lee Domangue of LATG engaged with Justin Windsor of Zerto to discuss achieving 24×7 availability with zero downtime and data loss.  If you missed the live session, don’t worry—you can watch the replay to gain practical insights into ransomware resilience, disaster recovery, and multi-cloud mobility.

Read on for the key highlights and discover strategies to safeguard your business against the unexpected.
First, if you haven’t heard, Zerto, a leader in disaster recovery, is changing the game with their innovative approach to data protection and business continuity. We’ll dive into the key differences between backup and disaster recovery and why speed matters more than you might think.

Understanding Disaster Recovery and Data Protection Strategies

Before we jump in, it’s essential to clarify the difference between backup and disaster recovery. While both are critical components of a comprehensive data protection strategy, they serve different purposes:

• Backup: Creates copies of data that can be restored in case of data loss.
• Disaster Recovery: Focuses on quickly restoring entire systems and applications to minimize downtime.

Traditional backup solutions often fall short when it comes to rapid recovery. That’s where continuous data protection (CDP) comes in, offering near real-time replication of data changes.

Key Metrics: RPO and RTO

Two critical metrics in disaster recovery are Recovery Point Objective (RPO) and Recovery Time Objective (RTO):
RPO: The maximum amount of data loss your business can tolerate.
RTO: The maximum time your business can function without its systems and data.
These metrics are crucial in determining the impact of downtime on your business. Every minute of downtime can cost from thousands to millions of dollars, depending on your industry and size.

Zerto’s Approach to Ransomware Prevention and Business Continuity Planning

Zerto takes a unique approach to disaster recovery, focusing on speed and flexibility. Here’s how they stand out:

Continuous Data Protection Technology

Unlike traditional backup solutions that typically run once a day, Zerto’s CDP technology captures changes in near real-time. This means you can recover to a point just seconds before an incident occured, minimizing data loss.

Multi-cloud Mobility and Flexibility

Zerto allows for seamless movement of workloads between on-premises environments and various cloud platforms. This flexibility is invaluable in today’s multi-cloud world, especially with recent changes in the virtualization landscape.

Rapid Recovery Capabilities

With Zerto, recovery times are measured in minutes, not hours or days. This speed can make the difference between a minor hiccup and a major business disruption.

Live Disaster Recovery Testing

Zerto enables organizations to perform non-disruptive disaster recovery tests, ensuring your plans work when you need them most. This feature is especially valuable when it comes to compliance and cyber liability insurance.

The Cyber Resilience Vault: Enhancing Data Protection

Zerto has taken data protection a step further with their Cyber Resilience Vault. This innovative solution offers:

Air-gapped Infrastructure and Immutability

The vault provides an isolated environment for your critical data, making it much harder for cybercriminals to access or tamper with your backups.

AI-powered Drawbridge Technology

Zerto uses artificial intelligence to manage access to the vault, adding an extra layer of security to your data protection strategy.

Comparison with Traditional Backup Solutions

While traditional backup solutions might take days or even weeks to recover from a major incident, Zerto’s Cyber Resilience Vault can get your mission-critical applications back up and running in hours.

Implementing Zerto in Your Organization

Integrating Zerto into your existing infrastructure is straightforward and non-disruptive. Here’s what you need to know:

Identifying Critical Applications and Data

Start by identifying your top 3-5 mission-critical applications. These are the systems that, if down, would severely impact your business operations.

Integration with Existing Infrastructure

Zerto works at the hypervisor level and is hardware-agnostic, making it easy to implement without major changes to your current setup.

Pricing Model and Scalability

Zerto’s pricing is based on the number of virtual machines (VMs) you’re protecting, typically covering about 20-25% of a typical environment. This makes Zerto a scalable solution for businesses of all sizes.

Benefits for Cyber Liability Insurance and Compliance

Implementing Zerto can positively impact your cyber liability insurance premiums and make compliance audits smoother. The ability to demonstrate rapid recovery capabilities is increasingly important in today’s regulatory environment.

Don’t let downtime get you down. With Zerto’s innovative disaster recovery solutions, you can ensure your business stays up and running, no matter what challenges come your way. It’s time to move beyond traditional backup and embrace a more proactive approach to data protection and business continuity.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

How is Zerto different from traditional backup solutions?

Zerto focuses on disaster recovery rather than just backup. It offers continuous data protection, allowing for recovery points just seconds before an incident, compared to traditional daily backups. Zerto also provides much faster recovery times, measured in minutes rather than hours or days.

Can Zerto work with my existing infrastructure?

Yes, Zerto is designed to work at the hypervisor level and is hardware-agnostic. This means it can integrate seamlessly with your existing infrastructure without requiring major changes or replacements.

How does Zerto’s pricing model work?

Zerto prices per virtual machine (VM) being protected. Typically, businesses protect about 20-25% of their environment, focusing on mission-critical applications. This makes Zerto a scalable solution for businesses of all sizes.

What is the Cyber Resilience Vault, and how does it enhance data protection?

The Cyber Resilience Vault is Zerto’s advanced data protection solution. It provides an air-gapped, immutable environment for your critical data, making it extremely difficult for cybercriminals to access or tamper with your backups. It also uses AI-powered technology to manage access, adding an extra layer of security.

How can Zerto help with compliance and cyber liability insurance?

Zerto’s ability to demonstrate rapid recovery capabilities and perform non-disruptive disaster recovery tests can positively impact compliance audits and cyber liability insurance premiums. These features show that your organization has robust data protection and business continuity measures in place.

LATG builds IT success with people and planning, and we’re a trusted Zerto partner. Contact us if you want to delve deeper into ransomware prevention and business continuity planning.