Is Your Catastrophe-Focused Sales Pitch Creating Cloud Resistance?

By Intronis Guest Blog 2_2

Sometimes when we talk about solutions that are designed to protect customers from disasters, we focus too much on major catastrophic disasters such as Hurricane Sandy, the California wildfires or category 4 tornadoes. Using only these most extreme examples can cause some customers to think, ‘If things got that bad, I’d have way more to worry about than getting my data back in two hours or less.’ Or, it could cause them to take the opposite position: ‘What are the chances my business will be affected by a major catastrophe?’

The fact of the matter is, however, that disasters don’t have to cause billions of dollars in damages or cover several states to be catastrophic to your customers’ businesses. A common power outage could wipe out hours of unsaved work and critical customer data. Or, how about if a server room air conditioner failed? It could easily lead to servers overheating, followed by downtime, data loss and lost productivity. These types of localized disasters, combined with the threats of user errors, system failures and other unforeseen accidents are the overriding reasons why businesses need a turnkey cloud backup offering. 

After a customer accepts the fact that there are myriad potential disasters they need to consider, they will likely be more receptive to discussing the topic of IT disaster recovery. Research shows that regardless of the cause, the faster an organization’s operations can be fully restored, the greater its chances of a complete recovery. An estimated 40 percent of businesses do not reopen after a disaster, while another 25 percent fail within a year of these events, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

Continuity and compliance are the two most important reasons why businesses should implement effective backup and disaster recovery solutions. Data is one of the most valuable organizational resources and, with regulatory compliance and business continuity demands, a major security concern. Without a well-designed strategy and program in place, the legal and financial liabilities can be substantial. In today’s day and age, it’s hard to believe many organizations still don’t have solid business continuity plans and systems in place to minimize disaster threats — but many don’t. A 2011 study by CA Technologies found that 30 percent of companies did not have a disaster recovery plan or business continuity solution in place, and two-thirds of those that did still felt they had significant vulnerabilities.

That lack of confidence in protection leaves a major opportunity for solution providers. Not only do VARs and MSPs have the technical expertise needed to implement and support effective BDR systems, but the listening and planning skills to help their customers create and document their business continuity procedures. And with the latest online solutions, providers have a variety of cost-effective options to minimize the negative effects of potential catastrophes, including:

Cloud BDR solutions can maximize business availability by reducing downtime, as well as the associated cost and inconvenience for any business. For solution providers, these systems create new recurring revenue streams, improve customer satisfaction and eliminate the headaches that often accompany traditional onsite backup programs. Helping customers put their head around the “why” and understand the cost of downtime is a must when it comes to successfully selling cloud BDR.

If you are considering integrating cloud backup into your disaster recovery solution, take a look at the new Intronis e-book, “The Ultimate Guide to Selling Cloud Backup,” designed to help VARs and MSPs sell cloud backup more effectively.

Kirk Buggy is a Regional Sales Director at Intronis, a cloud-based backup and disaster recovery provider that works closely with VARs and MSPs. Monthly guest blogs such as this one are part of The VAR Guy’s annual platinum sponsorship.