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Business Continuity

Beth

Business Continuity

Cloud computing is the provision of IT services like analytics, database storage, and networking using a traditional hardware processing power over an internet connection; it facilitates faster innovation, the flexibility of computing power, and economies of scale, which is available worldwide by various cloud service providers using servers and massive data centers.

Cloud Services for Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery:

Define business continuity and disaster recovery in the context of the cloud services.

Disasters are usually unexpected in human life, whether natural or human-inflicted and are always bound to cause a great magnitude of destruction and disruption when they occur. Business continuity and disaster recovery with regard to cloud computing mean that if a problem such as cyber invasion or physical destruction of systems affects the IT components of an organization, the severity of the situation is lessened, downtime is reduced, and data is backed up in the cloud via an internet connection to ensure proper progress of an organization’s processes because data is the lifeline of any organization and losing it might easily throw an enterprise out of business. According to Bigelow (2020), the role of cloud disaster recovery is very similar to that of a traditional system to protect and recover resources vital for normal business operations. However, local onsite data recovery platforms do not provide better protection against physical disasters like inferno attacks and extreme weather conditions.

Show the importance of disaster continuity and disaster recovery to the function of the business.

Business continuity is essential even in the face of a disaster; this has become very easy and cheap with the advent of cloud computing. As Stay in Business (2020) states, it is cost-effective to back up data in a data center through a cloud service provider because the users will only pay for the computing resources they use when a disaster happens, which is also available for small businesses. When a problem occurs, the business can access data from any remote location; therefore, there is an ease of accessibility of computing resources from any place by a business. Cloud business continuity provides a certainty that nearly all the data is not lost in the event of a disaster, contrary to a local data center. Disaster recovery ensures that data is heavily protected through encryption during the recovery process; corrupt data can damage a business, proving that it’s very efficient to back up data in the cloud.

Risk Assessment

Identify which risks can be transferred to the cloud provider based on the functions of the business.

Several risks can be transferred to the cloud provider when they provide cloud services. Hackers are always looking for potential targets; cloud service providers store large volumes of data from different small and large businesses; by doing this, the risk of a data breach is transferred to the cloud service provider, and customers also stand to be affected. When a business opts to store its sensitive data with a cloud service provider, the business practically shifts vital information to the vendor while not assessing factors such as the access of the vendor to its information, the security of the technology on which the cloud service provider runs on, this can be very damaging in the event of a disaster and may damage the reputation of a business. According to Calyptix (2016), some industries impose strict rules on data regulations and privacy, like banking and the healthcare industries, which require knowing how and where the data is stored and the authorized personnel to access the data. This risk is transferred to the vendor, but the customers may also be accountable when data is lost or misused.

Explain new risks associated with using cloud services based on the functions of the business.

There are also risks of using cloud services concerning the segment occupied by the business. With the rapid growth of cloud computing and many players also coming in for a share of the market, many aspects of cloud computing have also come up, like the hybrid cloud and multi-cloud, which many organizations are embracing because different cloud vendors offer varying levels of capabilities in different areas; this creates a lot of complexity which heightens costs and risks of this set-up. Based on Brenner (2020), hosting business operations in the cloud means that the businesses lack total control over that service because the vendor dictates everything; for instance, if the cost of the service goes up, the business owners are forced to pay more to run operations and also to maintain customers because stoppage of operations means losing customers. It holds the customers of cloud vendors hostage, because they have to play along with what the cloud service provider wants. Vendor lock-in is another problem that the business may grapple with because a customer may feel the need to transfer to another cloud vendor, but the flexibility of the process is hindered due to factors like varying application programming interfaces used by different cloud service providers, the most significant setback when trying to migrate is the costs involved in the process.

Cost-Benefit Analysis

Show the costs associated with a cloud-based solution for the business.

Cloud computing can be a game-changer for any business; despite this, there are many costs to consider when making this switch. There are migration costs involved in the switching process; this can vary based on the systems transferred to the cloud platform; the most common service provided is the Software as a Service, which is paid for through subscription. Making a move to the cloud brings with it plenty of disruption, a change of norm of doing things, and dedication of extra resources to facilitate the process; this may be mitigated by proper planning. After migrating to the cloud, the business may be faced with the necessity of retraining its human capital because when a business embraces new technology, things will be done differently, requiring that the employees be taught how to handle those changes; this amounts to more expenditure by the business.

Outline the benefits associated with a cloud-based solution for the business.

A decision made by an enterprise to move its resources to the cloud is bound to produce many benefits because the “pay-as-you-use” model is brought to optimal use. Increasing the size of a business while ensuring proper IT efficiency is a problem for many organizations because of the costs needed to buy new hardware and network infrastructure. It is solved using the cloud because businesses can use these resources over a network and when on demand. According to Brightline IT (2021), the initial costs of setting up a cloud infrastructure for a business are not as significant as that of buying new IT hardware; this saves cost for the business. Cloud computing eliminates system maintenance costs because these are covered in the service provision agreement, so the business does not worry about update and hardware maintenance costs. Brightline IT posits that having a resilient data backup system is expensive because an organization must invest in new IT hardware; cloud computing offers an alternative to backing up data in a cheap and effective network.

A shift to the cloud is a beneficial move for organizations, especially those that operate worldwide, because employees can have access to data from any remote location without necessarily investing considerable sums in new hardware purchases; this may also give businesses that wish to expand the leverage to do so and become more profitable.

Conclusion:

Relate the risk assessment and cost/benefit analysis to the business continuity and disaster recovery for the needs of the business.

While using cloud services to improve business operations should be the norm for many organizations, it comes with many risks that, if not eliminated or reduced, businesses might be significantly affected; the occurrence of any risk is potentially damaging, but this can be controlled by setting up proper secure systems, monitoring people that access information and proper enforcement of vendors’ responsibilities. The cloud is the best option for any business whose data is at risk of getting lost in the event of a disaster because data is stored over a network, and there is a high certainty that businesses will retain lost data during a disaster.

Setting up a cloud platform has initial capital expenditure ranging from training of human resources to costs that handle the disruption process to ensure it’s seamless; this can’t be compared to the cost of setting up every infrastructure whenever it’s needed in the case of a local data center; this unique feature makes business continuity and disaster recovery to be very well suited in the cloud because organizations using it are not at risk of losing vital data when calamities strike. Therefore, a cloud-based service should be the best option for business.

References

Bigelow, s. (2020). What Is Cloud Disaster Recovery (Cloud DR)?. Retrieved 20 April 2021, from https://searchdisasterrecovery.techtarget.com/definition/cloud-disaster-recovery-cloud-DR

Brenner, m. (2020). Four Biggest Risks of Cloud Computing and How to Mitigate Them. Retrieved 20 April 2021, from https://www.nutanix.com/theforecastbynutanix/technology/four-biggest-risks-of-cloud-computing-and-how-to-mitigate-them

brightline IT. (2021). Costs and Benefits of Cloud Migration for Your Business | Brightline IT. Retrieved 20 April 2021, from https://brightlineit.com/costs-and-benefits-of-cloud-migration/

Calyptix. (2016). Top 5 Cloud Computing Risks cloud computing risks. Retrieved 20 April 2021, from https://www.calyptix.com/research-2/top-5-risks-of-cloud-computing/

Stay in business. (2020). Benefits of Cloud Based Business Continuity | Stay In Business. Retrieved 20 April 2021, from https://www.stayinbusiness.com/cloud-back-up/benefits-of-cloud-based-business-continuity/

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Question 

Business Continuity

The CEO of your company is concerned that a natural disaster could make your company’s information systems unavailable long enough to significantly impact business. Currently, critical systems like file servers, e-mail services, and applications – like HR, payroll, billing, and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) – are hosted in a local data center.

Business Continuity

Your job is to educate the board on the benefits and risks associated with using cloud services for business continuity and disaster recovery in order to aid their decision on whether to move to a cloud-based service or continue working from a local data center.

Prepare a 4- to 5-page Microsoft Word document discussing the use of cloud services for business continuity and disaster recovery.

Include the following:

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