By Nancy Hurley

Ensuring data is adequately protected is a challenge all organizations face. While no two data centers employ the same backup software and processes, it is possible for all to follow core best practices to transform the delivery of data protection services to achieve greater business and IT alignment, maximize operational efficiency, minimize risk and increase customer satisfaction.

1. Perform a Health Check
Ongoing assessments help reveal the true effectiveness of an organization’s processes, exposing actual backup success rates, capacity use, SLA compliance and recoverability. This evaluation enables effective Problem Management and identifies opportunities for improvement.

2. Continuous Policy Management
Performing regular policy reviews reveals if existing policies support the goals of the business (examples: is critical data protected more frequently, are proper retention rates in place). With regular reviews and impact analysis, policies and processes can be modified to ensure success and recoverability while increasing IT business alignment.
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3. SLA Management
Delivering on SLAs is critical for compliance and customer satisfaction. IT should create a service catalog to publish to users. This ensures both are in complete agreement regarding expectations for recovery. Publishing SLA reports promotes better communication with customers increasing satisfaction rates.

4. Change Management
Tracking change is critical for exposing areas of risk, identifying unprotected assets, planning capacity requirements and passing audits. Organizations should track policy changes, trends and remediation activity.

5. Standardizing for Operational Excellence
Standardizing on the above processes enables streamlined operations, reduced TCO, increased IT business contribution and improved customer satisfaction.

Nancy Hurley is CEO of Bocada located in Kirkland, Wash., NancyH@bocada.com.