Written by Michael Dilio, Software Defined Storage Product and
Solutions Marketing Manager, SUSE
Between
the proliferation of unstructured data and seasonal natural disasters, data
storage professionals are prioritizing disaster recovery (DR) more than ever
before. However, the concerns don't just stop there: new regulations such as
the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) are
creating new compliance challenges. In this era of heightened compliance, having
a strong DR plan can help a business avoid both costly fines and data
management issues.
Summer
months present the perfect time to revamp your DR program. Here are some ideas
to consider when you revisit your plan:
Planning for a Compliance Era
The GDPR
officially rolled out earlier this year in an effort to strengthen and unify
data protection for EU consumers, while also protecting the exportation of
personal data outside of Europe. The regulation brings tougher requirements for
organizations that store "personally identifiable data," such as names,
photographs and addresses. For storage professionals, this means rethinking the
way they are managing this type of data.
To
meet the compliance requirements, storage professionals must first understand
what personal data exists within their organization. They can start by identifying
where the data is created, where it resides and who owns it. In addition,
companies should consider participating in a regular data audit to help
determine what personal data exists. This way they can review which
applications have access to these details and figure out how to make the access
process more compliant. Resulting policies can then be put in place to secure
the data and ensure compliance with GDPR regulations. As part of your DR plan,
it's also crucial to ensure that your system is continuously operational for an extended
length of time - otherwise known as high availability (HA).
Preparing for Emerging Technologies
More
enterprises are investing in connected devices, but they aren't prepared for
the data management challenges that come with them. These IoT devices can
capture detailed information much faster and effectively than traditional IT
systems. However, they are also increasing the amount of unstructured data. For
example, new aircrafts now contain as many as 10,000 sensors on each wing. That's
20,000 sensors transmitting data from just the wings of the aircraft. The
expansion of IoT device data and usage will only continue to grow as other
industries continue to see its benefits, which is why storage professionals
must prepare for these challenges.
In
addition to the storage problems, there are also greater security risks
involved with connected devices as many of them (i.e., wearables) were not
created with these concerns in mind. It becomes crucial for a connected
enterprise to establish a disaster recovery plan that is inclusive of these new
vulnerabilities. In this plan, consider if all the data being analyzed from
your connected devices needs to be saved. That will help reduce the amount of
data and potential security threats.
Uncovering Testing Environment
Threats:
For
IT professionals, it is extremely valuable to conduct regular disaster recovery
tests. However, the complexities of the testing process and its cost can make
it a second-tier priority at times. Rapid data growth only amplifies this
issue. According to a survey conducted by Statista, many
organizations wishing to deploy a test environment are challenged by the
multiple versions of testing environments they have. In addition, 48 percent
were unable to manage the needs of test environments, such as network and
service virtualization facilities. Without a solid testing environment, it is
challenging to create a proper disaster recovery plan.
Disaster
recovery is a crucial part of any IT operation. New challenges will arise each
year, and IT teams need to be adaptable and ready to address them.
Understanding the potential challenges and identifying the people, skills and
technology to address them is an important first step.
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About the Author
Michael Dilio is product- and solutions-marketing manager at SUSE. He is a senior product-strategy and marketing specialist
with a strong expertise in relationship management. He oversees the
software-defined storage category, where he leads messaging for a variety of
solutions. Before SUSE, he held senior marketing positions at Cisco, NetApp and
Lenovo. Mike received his BA in business management from Pace University.