Delivery
Recovery programs built to be tested, not just documented
RTO and RPO commitments are only meaningful if they've been demonstrated under real failure conditions. We build DR programs that work — and prove it.
< 15 min
RTO for tier-1 systems
< 1 min
RPO with synchronous replication
Annual
Full failover tests — guaranteed
100%
Backup integrity verified per run
DR capabilities
Recovery programs engineered to meet their targets
Every component of a DR program — backup, replication, failover, runbooks, and testing — must work together. We design and operate the complete program.
DR architecture design
Recovery architectures designed around your actual RTO and RPO requirements — not vendor defaults. Warm standby, pilot light, active-active, and multi-region configurations are selected based on your recovery time requirements and what you can afford to lose, not what sounds best in a proposal.
Warm standby · Pilot light · Active-active · Multi-region active-passive
Backup and data protection
Structured backup programs covering compute, databases, file systems, SaaS data, and configuration state. Backup schedules, retention policies, and encryption are designed to satisfy your regulatory requirements. Backup integrity is verified, not assumed — automated restore tests run on every backup job.
Automated restore testing · Immutable backup copies · Air-gapped offsite options
RTO/RPO engineering
Recovery time and recovery point objectives are engineering targets, not aspirational numbers. We instrument your environment to measure actual recovery performance, identify the bottlenecks that prevent meeting your targets, and fix them before a real event requires them to work.
RTO measured in test · RPO validated against actual backup intervals
Failover automation
Automated failover for the failure scenarios that occur at 3am on a Saturday — when no one wants to execute a manual runbook. DNS failover, load balancer reconfiguration, and database promotion are scripted, tested, and triggered by defined conditions. Manual steps are minimized and documented.
Automated DNS failover · Database promotion scripts · Runbook automation
BCP program development
Business continuity plans that address the human and organizational dimensions of recovery — not just the technical ones. Who declares an incident, who communicates to which stakeholders, how decisions get made under pressure. BCP documentation is written for the people who will use it at 2am.
Incident declaration procedures · Stakeholder communication templates · Decision trees
Tabletop exercises and DR testing
Structured DR tests that simulate real failure scenarios — not test-environment failovers that prove nothing about production recovery. Annual tabletop exercises for leadership teams. Full failover tests at an agreed cadence, with post-test reports that document what worked and what didn't.
Annual tabletop for leadership · Full failover tests · Post-test gap analysis
Recovery tiers
RTO and RPO targets by system criticality
Not every system has the same recovery requirement. We tier your systems by business criticality and engineer the appropriate recovery architecture for each tier.
| Tier | RTO Target | RPO Target |
|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 — Mission Critical | < 15 minutes | < 1 minute |
| Tier 2 — Business Critical | < 4 hours | < 1 hour |
| Tier 3 — Business Important | < 24 hours | < 4 hours |
| Tier 4 — Standard | < 72 hours | < 24 hours |
How we work
From current-state assessment to tested recovery capability
Assess
Week 1–2
We inventory every system, classify it by criticality, and document the current recovery posture. Existing backup jobs are tested. Current RTO and RPO are measured — not taken from documentation. The gap between stated and actual recovery capability is almost always significant.
System criticality register + current-state RTO/RPO measurements
Design
Week 2–4
Target recovery architecture is designed for each criticality tier. Failover automation is scoped. Backup programs are redesigned where gaps exist. The design is reviewed against your regulatory requirements — most frameworks impose specific RTO/RPO or backup retention requirements.
DR architecture design + regulatory compliance mapping
Build
Week 4–12
Recovery infrastructure is deployed. Backup programs are reconfigured. Failover scripts are written and tested in a staging environment. Runbooks are rewritten to reflect the actual recovery procedure — not the ideal one.
DR infrastructure deployment + tested runbooks
Test
Week 10–14
Full failover test is conducted in a controlled window. Every recovery procedure is executed against a defined test scenario. Test results are documented, failures are analyzed, and gaps are remediated. The test is only complete when we can demonstrate the RTO/RPO targets are met.
Full DR test report + gap remediation plan
Operate
Ongoing
Annual DR tests on a defined schedule. Backup integrity verification on every backup run. RTO/RPO measurements included in monthly managed services reporting. Changes to production that affect recovery capability go through a DR impact review.
Annual DR test + monthly backup verification reports
Use Cases
DR programs built for regulated enterprises
Financial Services
Meeting DORA recovery requirements without rebuilding the architecture
The Situation
A financial institution faces DORA ICT resilience requirements that mandate documented and tested recovery procedures with specific RTO commitments. Their existing DR program consists of backup jobs and a runbook that was last updated in 2021 and has never been tested against production.
Our Approach
We start by testing the existing runbook against a simulated failure — which surfaces three blocking issues that would prevent recovery in a real event. We fix the blocking issues, rebuild the DR architecture for tier-1 systems to meet DORA's recovery time objectives, and establish an annual test cycle that produces the evidence package the regulators require.
Healthcare
Zero data loss architecture for a clinical record system
The Situation
A health system's clinical record system has an informal RPO of 'recent' and an RTO of 'as fast as possible.' Neither has been tested. A ransomware incident at a peer organization reveals that 'recent' and 'as fast as possible' are insufficient — especially when the backup copies are also encrypted.
Our Approach
We implement immutable, air-gapped backup copies with an automated restore test on every backup cycle. RPO is engineered to 15 minutes through synchronous replication of the most critical tables. RTO is tested quarterly — recovery procedures are validated against a production clone, not a development environment. The health system now has measured, not estimated, recovery capability.
Is this right for you?
This is a good fit if you…
- You couldn't say with confidence how long recovery would take if your systems went down today
- You've never tested your DR plan by running a full failover drill
- Your backup strategy exists on paper but has no defined recovery time objective
- A regulator or insurer is asking for documented and tested DR capability
- You've had a near-miss — ransomware, hardware failure, or a botched deployment — that revealed gaps
You might want to start elsewhere if…
- You just need somewhere to store backup copies — that's a storage solution, not a DR program
- You already have a tested DR plan with documented RTO/RPO and recent drill results
Common questions
Questions people ask before getting started
Plain answers. No jargon. If something isn't covered here, just ask us directly.
When did you last test your DR plan?
If the answer is 'we haven't' or 'over a year ago', talk to us. A one-day assessment will tell you exactly where your recovery capability stands.