Choose a recovery outcome—not a feature list.
The best disaster recovery solution is the one your team can operate under pressure and prove against the recovery objectives the business actually requires.
Start with the business requirement
Before comparing products, define which services matter, how long each can remain unavailable, how much data loss is tolerable, and what conditions could affect the primary site.
Recovery Time Objective (RTO)
The target time for restoring an acceptable level of service after disruption. Measure usable service, not merely when restoration begins.
Recovery Point Objective (RPO)
The maximum acceptable period of data loss. This informs protection frequency, replication design, and bandwidth needs.
A practical disaster recovery scorecard
| Criterion | What good looks like | How to verify it |
|---|---|---|
| Operational recovery | Priority applications become usable within required time | Timed exercise with application-owner signoff |
| Recovery integrity | Recovery points are automatically checked and exceptions are visible | Test history and failed-test workflow |
| Cyber isolation | Attackers cannot readily alter every recovery copy | Architecture, credentials, immutability, and network review |
| Failure coverage | Local, site-wide, and cyber scenarios have defined responses | Scenario matrix and runbooks |
| Operability | The internal team can execute common recovery tasks | Hands-on demonstration by the people who will own it |
| Capacity | Recovery compute and storage support priority workloads | Workload-based sizing with growth assumptions |
| Support | Qualified help is available when incidents occur | SLA, escalation process, and customer references |
| Total cost | Licensing, infrastructure, services, testing, and labor are understood | Three-year scenario-based cost model |
Questions that reveal the real recovery experience
Show, don't tell
“Can our administrator recover a representative application during the evaluation?”
Count the steps
“After a failure is declared, what must happen before users can work?”
Test the exception
“How are failed recovery tests surfaced, assigned, and resolved?”
Size honestly
“What workload can run in recovery mode at once, and for how long?”
Model the attack
“Which credentials or systems could compromise both production and recovery?”
Plan the return
“How is current data protected and moved when production resumes?”
Where Quorum onQ fits
Quorum onQ is designed for organizations that value simplified operations, automated recovery testing, and fast activation of protected systems across local, remote, or cloud recovery configurations.
- Teams with lean IT staffing that need an operable recovery workflow
- Virtualized environments where restore delays threaten business continuity
- Organizations seeking both local recovery and off-site options
- Buyers who want recovery testing built into routine operations
Fit depends on workload compatibility, scale, recovery objectives, deployment design, and commercial requirements. Validate all requirements in a proof of concept.
Buying questions
Should we choose an appliance or cloud DRaaS?
Local appliances can prioritize recovery speed and control; cloud services can provide geographic separation and reduce secondary-site infrastructure. Many organizations use both.
Is the lowest RTO always best?
No. Lower targets usually cost more. Set objectives according to business impact, then verify the proposed design can meet them.
What is the most important demonstration?
Ask your own administrator to recover a representative multi-tier application, validate it with an application owner, and document elapsed time and manual steps.
Evaluate Quorum against your own scorecard
Bring the requirements. We’ll show how onQ addresses them and identify where configuration or additional controls are needed.
Book an evaluation