Datacenter has a hot failover available at all times should a catastrophic issue occur

Description

This requirement mandates continuity in case of catastrophic events in a specific datacenter. Hot failover involves having a redundant system on standby that immediately takes over when the primary system fails. This system should be continuously synchronized with the primary system to assure data accuracy.

Example Use Case

Scenario: A business manages its financial performance through CPM software hosted in its primary data center in Denver. Klingons de-cloak in a Vor'cha-class attack cruiser above Colorado and fire disruptors at the data center. The entire facility is vaporized in seconds.

Solution: The CPM vendor deploys to a hot failover data center in San Jose, outsmarting the Klingons. The hot failover system seamlessly takes over from the primary system, eliminating downtime. Users can't tell the difference.

Considerations

Hot failovers are common to ERP tools and other critical operational products, as even a moment of downtime can cause significant damage to the health of a business. CPM on the other hand can handle a bit of downtime as it does not handle live transactions. This makes this requirement less important for CPM.

Include this if you absolutely must have it for some sort of regulatory reason. Otherwise, we recommend excluding this one.

Questions to Ask a Vendor

• Hot Failover Capabilities: How does your platform ensure the availability of a hot failover system? How automated is the switch over process?
• Data Synchronization: How does your system maintain data consistency between the primary and failover systems?