Disaster Recovery and Client Protection – Do you have a DRP? ARS does…

Do you have a disaster recovery plan ready to spring into action in the event of a disaster? Can you confidently state that your organization is equipped to withstand an outage or other business critical event? Disasters that affect businesses can take many forms. Whether man-made or natural, adverse circumstances can quickly turn into crippling situations for most organizations.

In recent years cyber-attacks have been increasing in frequency and severity. With the intent of immobilizing organizations, bringing business systems to a halt, and compromising data security, these attackers have impacted businesses at all levels; sometimes with devastating effects.

Natural disasters such as fire, flood, and inclement weather can affect key infrastructure components to include power, internet connectivity, and phone systems. When business is disrupted at any level the costs can mount quickly. There are not only monetary losses to consider, but also potential damage to client and company reputation. The ripple effect of these events, if not properly mitigated, can negatively impact operations and potentially damage critical resources.

While you cannot typically predict when these events will occur, you can develop an effective and responsive strategy that tackles a wide range of possibilities. Progressive businesses must be prepared to defend against and recover from these incidents as quickly as possible. At ARS organizational resilience, a focus on business continuity, and a dedication to data security are key factors that comprise our Disaster Recovery Plan (DRP). CTO Jon Foster commented, “Having a versatile DRP is an essential component of our threat assessment methodology, one that supports our ability to enjoy a 99.999% up-time record annually.”

Years ago our executive leadership team recognized the need to think forward and plan for both major and minor incidents. Our primary objectives were to protect the organization and our business partners, to eliminate or minimize downtime, and prevent data loss. As a result we got down to the serious business of identifying threats and vulnerabilities while creating an aggressive contingency plan that addresses those issues head-on. We conducted full analyses of risk assessment, critical applications, and restoration needs. Through careful and thorough planning we developed and implemented a robust DRP that not only sustains seamless business continuity, but also safeguards our clients and customers.

“A key component of the DRP is our identical offsite VM Ware platform and the real-time replication of all data. The replication is averaging a Recovery Point Objective (RPO) of 3 to 12 seconds during the busiest processing hours” said Mr. Foster. This is made possible through Zerto Virtual Replication layered on top of Silver Peak WAN compression running on a dedicated fiber circuit between the data centers.

Safety measures are in place and procedures are systematically and frequently tested with an eye toward continual improvement and refinement. ARS believes in proactivity, creativity, and versatility. We are constantly adapting and growing our DRP to fit the ongoing needs of our business partners. We support a vigorous IT division that employs dedicated programmers who are at the forefront of our efforts to prevent and handle any and all contingencies. Employee involvement at all levels, from fully dedicated management and operations teams to line staff, increases the value of our plan. We are prepared to launch our DRP at a moment’s notice, with deployment capabilities to off-site locations when needed.

We recognize that disaster preparedness and rapid recovery are integral to minimizing potential harm and protecting client interest and customer information. A well planned DRP ensures that when faced with a potentially debilitating event all vital business functions can resume seamlessly. Interruptions, if any, are brief and our company has the ability to swiftly return to business mode. CCO Dave Baker, versed in emergency management remarked, “Our plan is robust and sound, one that is tested and able to perform when needed. A key factor is continual training, refinement and successful execution of potential real-world scenarios.”

ARS never rests: With personally invested Information Technology and Compliance Teams partnering to find new solutions to keep ARS ahead of the competition. These ownership groups continuously strive to improve processes and adapt to the ever-changing business environment. ARS’ proactive leadership and versatile DRP is a vital part of its continued success and demonstrates the forward thinking, proactive mindset that permeates all levels of the company.