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VAR Best Practices: Business Continuity - Bulletproofing Your Clients [58:20]

Help clients become proactive, not reactive. Every business, no matter how small or large, has the same basic needs when the topic is business continuity and disaster recovery; the only differences are in scale. Proper planning is what makes the difference between a lost business and one that rides out the storms. Proper investment is what makes the connection from proper planning to proper execution. Join Bill Hersh, D&H Solutions Coordinator, and Trevor Schubert, D&H Solutions Specialist, as they go over business continuity best practices and the changes that have evolved over the past few years

Resources

DandH.com Resources:

Visit the Buisness Continuity page on dandh.com
On-Demand Webcast: VAR Best Practices: Strategies For A Solution
On-Demand Webcast: VAR Best Practices: Building Your Business By Doing What's Right For Your Customers
On-Demand Webcast: Intel® vPro™ Activiation
On-Demand Webcast: Leveraging the Power of Virtualization Using Microsoft Hyper-V 2012 R2
On-Demand Webcast: Leveraging the Power of Virtualization Using Microsoft Hyper-V® 2012 R2

Downloads:

External Resources:

Webcast Q&A

Q: How do I learn about some of the technologies that you talked about, like domain controllers in Azure™ and failover clustering?
A: For Microsoft training, we rely on the Microsoft Virtual Academy, TechNet, and various blogs. For Intel, we rely on the Intel Learning Network (ILN), the Intel support site, and ark.intel.com. For any other vendors, including HP, Lenovo, Netgear, D-Link, Buffalo, Cisco, and others, we typically leverage their partner programs for the training that they provide and supplement that with internal contacts.

Q: How do I convince my customers that they need to have backups, a UPS, etc.? They usually think it's a waste of money, no matter what I tell them.
A: We always rely on relating a value story, based on real-world figures. These need to come from the customer, easiest as part of a business technology assessment. If you're not talking about their business, they think that whatever you're saying doesn't apply to them. They need to own the fact that they are vulnerable.

Q: How do you choose the vendors that you recommend?
A: Personal evaluation of cost, features, channel-friendliness, partner programs, overall solution requirements, and existing vendors

Q: I have plenty of customers stuck on Price, financing options should help... but is there any additional ammo I can present them to help prove my case?
A: Contact solutionslab@dandh.com - we'll give you the ammo you need to convince your customers that a business continuity plan is not just something they want to have, but rather need to have.

Q: Do you have a webcast available on Hyper-V®?
A: We have more than one; please check out the following:

Q: Any recommendations for dealing with clients that want an automated off-site backup, but are leary about cloud security? Or any good products that would allow one computer to be backed up to another via some secure method.
A: The primary options that I see here are backing up to a remote server co-located in a data-center or backing up to a remote server at some other trusted location, such as your shop. However, I'd like to point out that neither of those options offer near the security that Microsoft Azure™ does. Understanding that the cloud and its security precautions may be poorly understood, I recommend that you check out (and share) some of the following to address those concerns:

Q: Do you already have a webinar on vPro®?
A: We do, you can find it here.

Q: I am new to D&H... How much should we "lean on" our sales rep as opposed to the Solutions Specialist Team for more technical solutions and what are both of your roles?
A: Your sales rep will be great for finding the right technical sales resource within D&H at any given time, and they are the person that you should interact with most regularly. They'll have information on promotions, new vendors, floor days, and other things that can immediately affect you purchasing. The Solutions Specialist Team is here for multi-vendor solution recommendations, and most Tier 1 vendors have their own specialist teams here, too. You can always contact your sales rep, or you can contact the SST directly at solutionslab@dandh.com.

Q: Our clients typically have DSL or Cable ISP's with abysmal upload speeds. Would that be an issue for the Buffalo NAS system you mentioned?
A: Only for the initial back-up, which would be the most sizable file involved in setting up the back-up. For that process, we'd recommend that you do that process on-premise, then move the remote unit to its final location and set up the remote sync. Depending how long you take to get from the initial back-up to the first remote sync, there may be some lag, based on how much differential data has occurred. However, once that is overcome (minutes or hours, not days), then the upload speeds should not be an issue. Of course, this is predicated on your being familiar with the amount of constant data change they have occurring.

Q: For the Buffalo system you mentioned, could you sync on site then move to the off site location?
A: Indeed, please see our response above.

Q: Are you aware of any business continuity certifications, either through vendors or third party providers?
A: The two primary BC certifications that we're aware of are provided by the Business Continuity Institute and the Disaster Recovery Institute. Contact info is:

Q: You mentioned moving some of my business to the cloud. Should I just use the cloud for back up of my data or should I think about moving more?
A: At this point, our thought is that the cloud offers superior value for the expense, allowing an organization to free up resources, both technical and financial, for more demanding, higher-value projects. As long as an organization has adequate connectivity for their needs (determined by company size and the size of their cloud portfolio), we recommend moving as much day-to-day infrastructure to the cloud as possible.

Q: What do you think about NETGEAR ReadyNAS® versus Buffalo TeraStation® solutions?
A: Our experiences with all of the ReadyNAS® and ReadyDATA® products have been good ones.

Q: Do you have a Solutions Lab webcast on Windows Azure™?
A: We have one older video on Windows® Small Business Server 2011 Essentials backing up to Azure™, but that is all, for now. We may be doing more current ones in the near future; keep your eyes open for word of them.

Q: Are you aware of any government regulations concerning cloud storage providers to protect clients' data in the event of the provider's business failure?
A: We are not aware of any legislation that covers specifically that topic, but neither are we legal experts. We recommend that you research your cloud providers terms and conditions for specific rights and expectations.

Still Have Questions?

Feel free to contact the Solutions Lab team at solutionslab@dandh.com or contact Solutions Lab team members individually at their contact information below: