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Guest post by David Kinlaw, Practice Manager, Disaster Recovery Business Continuity Solutions

Disaster Recovery can be expensive to plan for. You never know if you will actually need to use it, but if you do need to use it and you don’t have a plan any disaster could become even worse. We have seen this from recent disasters, such as Super Storm Sandy, where it has been difficult for companies without a disaster recovery plan to bounce back, but companies with a disaster recovery plan could continue to function.

One of the main drawbacks that people have for putting a disaster recovery plan into place is the belief that it is too costly. However, the cloud is making disaster recovery more affordable every day. New cost benefits of DRaaS include:

•             The ability to shift disaster recovery costs from a capital expense to an operational expense

•             The flexibility to expand or reduce service levels as business needs change

•             The resources of an IT team with 24/7 access and a complete skill set at a fraction of the cost

•             A complete end-to-end solution

All of these functions are available from DRaaS in the cloud, and the benefits of a disaster recovery plan like this is that the plan reacts quicker and is becoming more affordable.

Is DRaaS in the cloud a ripe way to plan for disaster recovery? Or is it only hype?

Check out our DRaaS page for more information: http://www.ict-log.us/gxQ1c

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David Kinlaw

Practice Manager, Protection Services – Cloud and Data Center Solutions

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As Logicalis practice manager for protection services, David Kinlaw’s role is to develop comprehensive best practices and disaster recovery and business continuity solutions that protect Logicalis customers from suffering a significant data loss that could impact or threaten their businesses.

As all organizations today become increasingly dependent on IT, David says his goal is to change how people think of disaster recovery and business continuity. “Too many organizations approach disaster recovery and business continuity as if they were shopping for car insurance. They’re looking for low rates, something they can buy and be done with. Others tend to rely on a vague hope that the IT department will just make it all work…somehow. Our approach to disaster recovery and business continuity is that it has to become an integral and sustainable part of the way an organization does business. It has to become a way of life.”

David says his message supports and enhances what IT departments have been saying for years.  In many situations, he finds himself translating IT’s message into terms—and financial justifications—that appeal to C-level business managers. David has the ability to talk technology to the CTO and below and business process to the CIO and above.

David and his team work with organizations to conduct comprehensive assessments of their business continuity requirements and determine the best solution for their unique environment. He has a wide range of technical and business experience working with executive management and technology leaders to clearly define business requirements, obtain organizational commitment, and design solutions that fit business needs and strategic vision.

David draws on a range of technologies in the Logicalis protection services portfolio that make disaster recovery both more affordable and more highly automated than it has been in the past. Logicalis’ disaster recovery-as-a-service (DRaaS) offering, for example, enables Logicalis cloud customers to failover between Logicalis’ two cloud platforms for full redundancy without having to invest in their own remote DR site. Customers who maintain on-premise data centers can also use Logicalis’ DRaaS to failover from their primary site to the Logicalis cloud. New solutions are constantly under development.

Before joining Logicalis David worked as an IT manager in a variety of companies including GMAC Insurance and IBM Global Services. He estimates that about half his nearly 15-year career in IT has been spent on the consulting side and half on the customer side.

David studied Information Technology at East Carolina University. He lives with his wife Sandra and their young daughter in the High Point, NC area. An avid collector of movies, his other hobbies include long range shooting, and flying remote controlled helicopters.

Topics of Expertise

  1. Disaster recovery—on premise and as-a-service
  2. Security and business continuity assessments
  3. Defining business requirements and obtaining organizational commitment for business continuity solutions