The recent global IT outage served as a stark reminder of the fragility of our interconnected digital world.
It exposed the catastrophic effects of disruptions worldwide, with significant impact in Australia where services and operations across various industries—from airlines and public-sector agencies to hospitals and universities—were affected. The hardest hit were those most reliant on uninterrupted computer functionality.
The outage underscored the critical importance for governments and organisations to prioritise data resiliency strategies. IT leaders and decision-makers must view such incidents as opportunities to reassess and strengthen their data resiliency.
As a first step, it is important to take stock of your current level of cyber resilience, data protection, and overall operational resilience. This might involve working with internal experts or a trusted partner to assess your on-premises, hybrid cloud, or fully cloud-based environments.
The key to a strong data resiliency plan is implementing secure and immutable infrastructure. Having a backup and recovery plan with security measures in place is a good start, but it is not enough for data resiliency. A truly resilient infrastructure requires data immutability, consistent deployment processes, and the ability to withstand unexpected system failures.
While there’s a lot to consider, a trusted data infrastructure expert like Hitachi Vantara can support you in implementing strategic solutions to improve your current data resiliency posture at any stage.
Regularly refreshing and rehearsing IT outage response plans are crucial in the digital age. Partnering with such an expert allows you to identify vulnerabilities and determine the necessary steps to ensure proper data protection, security, compliance, and cyber resilience.
The IT outage incident certainly serves as a wake-up call for governments and organisations to prioritise and strengthen their IT infrastructure. Those that follow this path will be much better positioned to deal with any future incidents that might occur.
George Dragatsis is the ANZ Chief Technology Officer at Hitachi Vantara.
To learn more about enhancing your data resiliency, visit Hitachi Vantara at Booth #310 at the Gartner Symposium in Gold Coast, Australia, from September 9-11, 2024. George will present “Would you like a side of AI with your Data?” on September 9th at 15:35 AEST. Sign up here.