The Millennial Generation, aged 18 to 34 is having an increased impact on business technology. Born into the age of the PC and early internet this demographic is more proficient and demanding of apps, devices and IT services than earlier generations. In the past progressive IT organizations would consider this group as a category to accommodate, making the company appealing to college recruits and new hires. More recently however, this generation is now mainstream with increased influence driving IT strategy. They now include partners at large firms, doctors that never used paper charts and executives making purchase decisions.

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Internet of @ThingsExpo, taking place June 7-9, 2016 at Javits Center, New York City and Nov 1-3, 2016, at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA, is co-located with the 18th International @CloudExpo and will feature technical sessions from a rock star conference faculty and the leading industry players in the world and ThingsExpo New York Call for Papers is now open.

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A series of large scale cyberattacks have been in the headlines this year and, according to McAfee, the situation will only worsen as hackers use more advanced techniques to infiltrate networks.

Despite this, there are still a large portion of companies that remain vulnerable, mainly due to the lack of executive interest in preparing for worst-case scenarios. The same report states that 79 percent of C-level US and UK executives surveyed say executive level involvement is necessary to achieving an effective incident response to a data breach and 70 percent believe board level oversight is critical.

It is therefore vital that IT leaders effectively communicate the latent threats to the ‘C-suite’ – the top executives at that organisation – to successfully address the weaknesses that may exist and be fully prepared to respond when they happen. Because they do and will happen.

For example, data centres experience total shutdowns an average of more than twice every two years, localised shutdowns nearly six times every two years, and limited outages more than 10 times per year. Therefore organisations must prepare themselves for when this happens. Because disasters create a crisis environment, they increase the need for the immediate return to operation and the ability to test and view the solution. Therefore, DRaaS (Disaster-Recovery- as-a-Service) is not merely an add-on to a cloud service provider’s offerings but it must be a focused discipline with appropriate infrastructure and staffing expertise.

So many of our customers tell us that their path to making the decision to adopt Disaster-Recovery-as-a-Service was not as smooth or as fast as they would have liked. And, one of the common reasons for this is around the difficulties faced in convincing high-level decision makers, often those in the ‘C-Suite’ to prioritise a DR strategy. It’s not that these C-level executives don’t understand the need to protect IT systems from a potential disaster, but that the prospect of such a disaster is sometimes not immediate enough to be the catalyst for a fast decision.

So, if you are looking to address the topic with your executives, below are some of the key aspects to consider depending on their job title:

• CEO/COO – Components of a DRaaS offering that would appeal most to CEO/COOs are the time to business resumption (e.g. near-zero RTO), the ability to pay as-you-go without a large capital investment, the ability to prioritise data and workloads for restoration and the flexibility to test to ensure proper operation in case a disaster is declared.
• CIO – CIOs have a tough balancing act; they must balance costs with the need to limit exposure. They may have to meet compliance requirements imposed by regulation or standards bodies. CIOs need to satisfy the needs of different stakeholders and business imperatives with DR – and this is a huge challenge.
• CFO – As their primary responsibility is financial, they must be approached from a fiscal angle. They look for an unbiased, independent perspective. Often perceived as being risk averse, they will invest in sound decisions, especially when they see a value proposition backed by financials and metrics.
• CMO- While traditionally associated with branding, advertising, and public relations, more often the CMO has key objectives tied to customer loyalty as well. An obvious concern of CMOs is how the negative press around disasters affects brand image and customer loyalty.  The CMO will not be interested in the details of the services chosen but can be a strong supporter on the need for DR to protect brand image as well as maintain excellent customer support.

It is important to build each individual case based on the key elements of your company’s DR requirements, and focus on the aspects that the target executive needs the most and that will be highly impacted by unplanned outages. These will be the biggest factors that can positively influence the C-suite towards prioritising DRaaS come budget time.

Read more: Selling Disaster Recovery as a Service (DRaaS) to the C-suite

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The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has issued a report arguing there is “no fundamental reason” why financial organisations cannot move to cloud-based models so long as the guidelines the body issues are adhered to.

“Our aim is to avoid imposing inappropriate barriers to firms’ ability to outsource to innovative and developing areas, while ensuring that risks are appropriately identified and managed,” the FCA argues. “We see no fundamental reason why cloud services (including public cloud services) cannot be implemented, with appropriate consideration, in a manner that complies with our rules.”

The FCA is at pains to stress the guidance it offers is not exhaustive, nor should it be read in isolation, but argues its approach is “risk-based and proportionate”.

First on the list are legal and regulatory considerations for financial firms. A company should have a “clear and documented business case or rationale” to support the decision to outsource to the cloud, do its due diligence – including ensuring the outsourcing agreement does not impair the firm’s operational risk – as well as identifying all service providers in the supply chain and ensure the firm’s requirements are adhered to throughout.

Risk management is also a necessary concern, by noting current industry good practice in terms of data and information security management. International standards, such as the ISO 27000 series, also need to be considered, as well as carrying out a data security risk assessment.

The relationship between service providers is also considered, as well as change management and continuity and business planning. Firms should “consider that disruptions could be caused by intentional cyber attacks, and that these may negate controls focused on delivering system availability”, the report notes.

Back in July, a report from CipherCloud argued the financial industry has an increased confidence in cloud technologies, with 100% of respondents saying they put certain personally identifiable information (PII) in the cloud. This report appears to further give the green light, but with a few provisos.

The FCA is asking its membership to give feedback for the coming three months, with the closing date for comments being February 12. You can read the report here.