IBM: DraaS Product Overview and Analysis

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Bottom Line:

IBM DRaaS offering is ideal for organizations that desire fully managed DRaaS and global support for IBM hardware offerings, non-x86 workloads and mainframes. And also for organizations that need additional related services in addition to DRaaS.

IBM has the edge on all others in this space, though it faces stiff competition from Sungard AS and regional players. Its global network and large installed base give it a strong market position.

IBM has been one of the giants of technology for about a century, continually reinventing itself to move with the times. That includes its embrace of a wide range of cloud-based services as well as its extensive range of mainframes, servers, storage, software and more. All of these offerings could tie into its DRaaS solution.

Service Description:

IBM DRaaS provides continuous replication of critical applications, infrastructure, data and systems for rapid recovery after an IT outage. It is an IBM fully managed service that provides end-to-end integrated services using private, public, or hybrid cloud.

IBM DRaaS orchestration overlays existing technologies and provides a lifecycle approach to process automation, ensuring automated, non-intrusive testing and validation. Upgrade OS patches or databases in isolation, perform on-demand DR exercises, test DR readiness and test again, updating workflows, tuning recovery resources to boost performance, optimizing costs. The IBM Cloud supports Windows, Linux, IBM AIX, and cross-platform testing.

The IBM Resiliency Services portfolio consists of over 13 services that fall into categories including advisory services, business continuity, backup and data protection, facilities and data center services, and disaster recovery. The latter includes traditional options like traditional disaster recovery and work area recovery, as well as its cloud offerings. new offerings such as Cyber-Resilience Services, Resiliency Orchestration (which has evolved from its 2016 Sanovi Technologies acquisition) and Disaster Recovery as a Service.

Features:

Workloads Supported:

Physical and virtual x86, UNIX (AIX, Solaris, HP-UX), IBM i, IBM Z, storage area network (SAN) replication, and database appliances.

Recovery Presence:

Over 100 IBM Resiliency Data Centers: North America, Latin America, Europe, Middle East, Africa, Asia/Pacific.

Experience:

Over 1,000 server images, involving two recovery locations, four tiers, 200+ database instances and 300+ applications.

“No off the shelf service can cover our enterprise. IBM has tailored its capabilities to our needs. IBM works with us until all issues are resolved. A very close working relationship and availability of technical resources has made the difference,” said a Cloud Recovery Director in healthcare.

Replication:

Continuous replication of critical applications, infrastructure, data and systems for rapid recovery after an IT outage.

Failover:

IBM DRaaS offers failover/failback.

Recovery time:

Consistent RTO in minutes, and RPO in seconds, can be achieved.

Delivery:

Fully managed. However, customer scores are low on ease of use.

Security/encryption:

Encryption at rest and in motion. Full suite of IBM protection services available.

Support:

IBM has an extensive global support network consisting of many tiers of support. But IBM’s customer reference satisfaction scores are low compared to others in this guide. Areas needing improvement were service and support issues, and limited on-demand options for scheduling and billing. “Slow to respond to simple requests for storage or resource changes on systems they manage,” said a Storage manager in manufacturing.

Key Markets and Use Cases:

Fully managed DRaaS and global support for IBM platforms. Particularly strong due to global presence and experience in non-x86 workload and mainframe recovery.

Pricing:

High.

Customers note IBM DRaaS prices as being high, corresponding to high value.

IBM DRaaS Summary: