The strategic use of cloud technology has become a cornerstone for businesses who wish to stay competitive and adaptable in todayโs evolving landscape. However, amidst the rapid enthusiasm to adopt and optimise cloud resources, crucial considerations such as security and disaster recovery are often overlooked in spite that spending onโฏsecurity, risk, and compliance remains high regardless of the economic environment.
In recent years, Australia has endured massive disruptions to its cyber ecosystem. Yet, despite the ongoing threat of malicious actors rising, many end users often find themselves unprepared for such threats. Recent research indicates that nearly half of Australian small businesses view cybersecurity as a low or non-existent risk. Furthermore, when it comes to data security and compliance skills critical for cloud deployment and management, 9% of cloud buyers revealed a serious lack while 55% only had moderate skills in a recent survey.
The fear of data exposure, coupled with an inability to manage cloud technology, can quickly manifest into poor disaster recovery practices. So who can businesses turn to for proper guidance?
Those keen to leverage the untapped potential of cloud computing securely should consider turning to an experienced and trusted Managed Service Provider (MSP). By offering robust disaster recovery solutions, the key and unique selling point for any MSP lies in their ability to mitigate the risks associated with cyber incidents and ensure business continuity.
How Can MSPs Mitigate Downtime And Data Loss In The Event Of A Cyber Attack?
MSPs offer a range of services designed to help their customers minimise data loss and operational resilience. These services are not only activated in the event of a data breach but are also routinely tested to ensure they are always ready for deployment. To begin, the first step in this process involves identifying points of vulnerability through a comprehensive risk assessment.
A risk assessment maps out a businessโ critical systems, pinpointing areas of highest value. This process enables better financial expenditure on resources, and enhances the overall availability, security and performance of operations. Conducting this initial assessment is crucial for MSPs to help businesses successfully defend against cyberattacks.
After identifying points of weakness, MSPs can develop a detailed contingency plan for the organisation. This plan outlines the specific steps a business should take in response to a threat, providing numerous benefits. Regularly testing and rehearsing a contingency plan help organisations to become familiar with the necessary actions, ultimately minimising down-time and financial impact.
How Decoupling Applications Can Be a Life-saver During Disaster Recovery
Once a disaster recovery plan is set in place, MSPs can further enhance security by decoupling applications from core infrastructure. Although contingency plans are critical, they may not always guarantee secure data. Healthy cyber practices must include the separation of applications to add an additional layer of defence.
Decoupling applications involves running them independently of the core infrastructure, which means that if one application is compromised, the impact on the overall system is minimised. This abstraction not only facilitates scalability and flexibility but also introduces a layer of security.
This results in a more robust security model where potential breaches or issues in the application layer will not directly affect the core infrastructure, and vice versa. By ensuring that applications are isolated from the infrastructure, MSPs can help businesses with an added layer of defence against potential cyber threats, alongside maintaining operational resilience.
It also simplifies the task of updating or patching either layer without disturbing the other.
Application-level Observability for Superior Monitoring
Today, understanding the intricacies of the applications running on these infrastructures is crucial.โฏMSPs can leverage advanced monitoring tools to gain real-time insights into application performance and offer deep insights into how an application behaves, interacts, and performs.
This proactive approach enables MSPs to address potential issues, often before they escalate into tangible problems for the end-user. By providing continuous visibility into the health of applications, MSPs can ensure that their customers receive the highest level of service and support.
What Role Does An MSP Play In Safeguarding Australian Businesses?
The partnership between businesses and MSPs is built on trust and technical expertise. Their mission is to provide efficient, stable and secure infrastructure; managing security updates and defending against cyberattacks.
By better protecting Australian organisations from outside cyber-attacks, MSPs can subsequently hold local businesses to a higher standard. This protection can spark innovation across both the cybersecurity field and other industries and plays a vital role in safeguarding critical data, benefitting both businesses and the wider community. And beyond the technical expertise, MSPs can rely on the levels of support and other advanced solutions offered by third-party cloud providers, to ensure a better quality of service.
Protecting a businessโs sensitive information is no longer a nice-have. As the world continues to embrace cloud technologies, the role of MSPs in providing robust disaster recovery solutions becomes increasingly critical. Partnering with an experienced MSP will grant businesses piece of mind that their operations are secure and their data is protected. These strategies not only ensure business continuity, but also foster a secure and resilient technological landscape across Australia; to mitigate the financial, operational and reputational consequences of a cyber-attack and to fully reap the benefits of cloud computing.
