Asigra Presents 10-Point Disaster Recovery Checklist For Proactive Enterprise Da ta Recovery Planning Data Recovery Leaders Provide

Guidance for Maintaining Business Uptime TORONTO, Canada, February 28, 2013 -- Asigra Inc., a leading Cloud Backup, recove ry and restore (BURR) software provider since 1986 today announced a ten-point c hecklist for enterprises preparing for events that require disaster recovery. Wi th the potential for severe winter and spring storms over the next several month s, the data recovery experts at Asigra recommend that organizations take proacti ve steps to prepare for a variety of disasters that could negatively impact data stored in local data centers. Tweet This: @Asigra Offers 10-Point Disaster Recovery Planning Checklist to Ensu re Enterprise Data Recovery after a Data Loss Event #cloud #backup - http://bit. ly/psJwGa Every year, AccuWeather.com issues a U.S. winter forecast, highlighting predicti ons of temperature and precipitation trends. Last year, winter was unusually war m for much of the eastern two-thirds of the nation. This year, however, above-no rmal snowfall is predicted for the Northeast, mid-Atlantic and central and south ern Appalachians, spanning western Massachusetts to northern portions of Georgia and Alabama. For businesses, severe rain and/or snow storms can result in power outages and flooding. Additionally, tornado season typically starts in March an d can last well into July, depending on the region. The best strategy to protecting an organizations IT operations from experiencing severe data loss in the event of a disaster is to take proactive steps in order to prepare the physical environment, IT infrastructure and staff responsible for managing these areas. In fact, DR plans are essential to ensuring regulatory co mpliance, including the Dodd Frank Act (in the financial services space) which r equires that organizations have detailed DR plans to ensure policy adherence. The following is a ten point checklist developed by Asigra and the companys servi ce providers who support enterprises in regions recently impacted by natural dis asters, including Hurricane Sandy. These service providers specialize in data re covery planning, execution and consulting services. 10-Point Enterprise Disaster Recovery Planning Checklist: 1. Have a Written Plan that Evolves with the Organization Create a formal disaster recovery plan in case servers and local backup systems are damaged or destroyed. Put that plan in a secure location such as a lockbox s ervice online and regularly update as infrastructure throughout the organization evolves. 2. Avoid Windows Locate your data center (regardless of size) in a windowless room to minimize th e possibility of rain damage. 3. Emergency Power Consider the implementation of uninterrupted power supply (UPS) systems on missi on critical servers and systems that will allow for the smooth transition from p rimary (utility) power to emergency power systems during a power outage. 4. Elevate Be mindful of where IT systems are located to avoid damage resulting from floods , bursting pipes and the fire department. Where possible, locate critical server s, storage and systems above street level and avoid basements and other areas wh ere water can accumulate. In single-story facilities, rack critical systems as h

igh as possible above the floor to provide an additional measure of protection. 5. Embrace Geographic Diversity In the event of a large-scale natural event such as a hurricane, a regional disa ster such as a tornado, flood or earthquake or even a localized disaster such as a fire, your data should be backed up in a geographically distant location to a llow for remote recovery to a recovery site. Consider data recovery solutions th at provide redundant data protection in a location that provides significant sep aration of the recovery location from the primary data center. 6. Have a Local Backup Having a local backup copy will be crucial if the primary business location main tains power but loses Internet connectivity and needs to recover server data. 7. Define Disaster Recovery Service Level Agreements (SLAs) and Conduct Training Drills Defining SLAs for recovery is essential as businesses may need instant recovery for some information (explore instant recovery capabilities on virtual machine p latforms to get back up and running as quickly as possible), while waiting longe r periods of time for lower priority data recovery may not impact operations. Ho wever, having such recovery policies and SLAs needs to be an essential part of t he DR plan to ensure data can be recovered using the most effective method. Conf irm the ability to recover effectively by engaging IT staff to participate in re gular disaster recovery drills (recovery testing) to ensure recovery effectivene ss. Ensure that data in the backup repositories is indeed recoverable. Also, mak e sure people have the necessary training to perform recoveries and are well ver sed with the procedures to recover. 8. Identify a Minimum of Three Business Site Failover Locations This will allow remotely backed up data to be recovered via Bare Metal Recovery (BMR) to servers at the recovery site location and allow critical business funct ions to continue in the event the primary site is lost. 9. Employee Communication Planning and testing are great preparatory tools, however, the events of an actu al disaster will almost always bring the unexpected. It is recommended to have a n offsite emergency website that all employees can access. With this site, real time information can be communicated to employees. 10. Business Continuance In a disaster, prioritization is the key. Making sure the most important busine ss functions operate effectively will be critical. A major part component will be support from employees. They need to be capable of performing key business se rvices. Make sure all employees in critical business areas understand exactly ho w they will connect to the recovered servers and perform their jobs. Asigra service providers focused on data recovery who support end-user organizat ions agree that advance preparation is critical to ensure business viability dur ing a disaster. These service providers support thousands of enterprises collect ively and highlight the following: "The best approach to a DR plan is to ensure that all your bases are covered: da ta, communication, and people," said Jennifer Walzer, CEO, BUMI. "While a primar y plan is imperative, you also need a plan B and contingencies in the event of l ine item failures. Your employees should not only be aware of the specific DR-re lated processes, they should also be well versed in the technological and commun ication alternatives. Through this approach, organizations can be better prepare d to maintain continuous operations regardless of the disaster." According to Mike Colesante, VP, U.S. Operations for Backup Technology LTD, The e

xact situations and events that will occur in a disaster are unpredictable. The best way to identify most of the challenges and significantly limit the surprise s is by involving key personal that actually perform the critical business activ ities. The IT department alone cannot understand all the processes involved in d elivering key business services. While it can be challenging for employees to ge t into a disaster mindset, that is exactly what is required to think through the challenges. A good walk-through exercise with key business service employees is to have them say, I woke up today and noticed we have no building. What do we do next? The primary steps for disaster planning include ensuring data is recoverable, mar king the emergency exits and communicating the event to key personnel and custom ers. What are the not so obvious steps? Testing is critical. The best laid plans mean nothing if they fall apart under pressure, said Dennis Smith, Chief Technic al Architect, EFS Backup Technologies LLC. Validation restores of critical data s hould also be regularly scheduled in addition to the testing of information diss emination through emergency channels during non-disaster periods. Working from a n alternate location like home, the local Starbucks or a full DR-Site on a day w hen you are not required to do so will help to verify that your business continu ity plans work. It is the case with many large enterprises that DR planning can be a difficult an d operationally draining process. However, this process can be greatly simplifie d for organizations by partnering with a cloud backup service provider to ensure key processes are in place, said Tracy Staniland, VP, Corporate Marketing, Asigr a. With expertise in disaster recovery planning across the globe, Asigra Hybrid P artners are especially adept in the design of disaster recovery plans that not o nly meet specific business requirements but also the regions they operate in and the natural disasters associated with those areas. To learn more about Asigra, visit: www.asigra.com. Follow Asigra on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/asigra About Asigra Asigra is the leading cloud computing software vendor focused on backup, recover y and restoration with more than 550,000 global installations. Asigra Cloud Back up transforms the way businesses manage and protect their data by delivering seam less end-to-end data protection that efficiently scales and easily adapts to any IT environment. With more than 26 years of experience as backup/recovery pionee rs, Asigra manages one of the largest business-class backup service provider eco systems in the world who power their cloud backup services using Asigra technolo gy and provide hands-on local service. Asigra is recognized by leading analyst f irms as a top cloud storage vendor. Asigra Cloud Backup was recently recognized with the 2012 Frost & Sullivan North American Cloud Based Data Management New Pr oduct Innovation Award and named Product of the Year by Storage Magazine. Asigra w as also awarded a 5-Star rating in the CRN Magazines 2012 Partner Program Guide, named a CRN 2012 Channel Chief, and also named a Best Channel Partner for 2012 b y Business Solutions Magazine. Asigra is headquartered in Toronto, Canada, with offices globally. For more information, visit www.asigra.com Asigra and the Asigra logo are trademarks of Asigra Inc. All other brand and product names are, or may be, trademarks of their respective owners. Contact: Joe Austin The Ventana Group Austin, TX (818) 332-6166 joe.austin@ventanapr.com

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