United Airlines’ Tech Glitch Reminds Us About Disaster Recovery Planning
United Airlines’ tech glitch has spotlighted an essential element of IT planning: disaster recovery (DR). When systems go down, whether due to hardware failures, software glitches, or human error, the critical questions are how quickly operations can resume and how much data the organization can afford to lose.
Two fundamental metrics help define the right objectives:
- Recovery Time Objective (RTO): The maximum duration systems can remain offline before the disruption becomes unacceptable. For some businesses, that might mean hours; for others, even a minute may be too long.
- Recovery Point Objective (RPO): The permissible amount of data loss, measured in time. For example, an RPO of 15 minutes means that backup systems should ensure you never lose more than 15 minutes of data.
If your RTO or RPO is effectively zero, then robust systems such as real‑time replication, automated failover, or high‑availability infrastructure are necessary. These require strategic investment and planning to implement.
Why you must discuss RTO and RPO with your IT provider
Organizations with IT services or managed infrastructure should have an open conversation about RTO and RPO with their provider. These discussions help clarify expectations, reveal whether current systems align with your business needs, and guide necessary upgrades or investments. Without this alignment, you may find that your infrastructure promises continuity; but fails to meet real-world tolerance for downtime or data loss.
Fizen Technology
When you partner with Fizen Technology, you’re not just outsourcing IT, you’re gaining a team that’s committed to staying sharp, so your business runs smoothly.
Contact us if you have technology questions for your business. Focus on your business, while we focus on your IT needs.