Replicated infrastructure in the cloud, tested failover and a recovery plan that's proven to work before you ever need it — not just a backup copy sitting on a shelf.
Your servers and applications replicate continuously to the cloud, so if your primary site or infrastructure fails, you can fail over to a working environment in minutes rather than days.
We run scheduled failover drills so you know your recovery time and recovery point targets are realistic, rather than finding out during an actual outage.
We design, deploy, monitor and test your DRaaS environment end to end, so disaster recovery is something we manage on your behalf, not another system for your team to babysit.
Disaster Recovery as a Service replicates your servers, virtual machines and applications to the cloud on an ongoing basis, so that if your primary site, a server or your infrastructure fails, you can fail over to a running replica rather than rebuilding systems from a backup file. It's a step beyond conventional backup — backup tells you your data is safe, DRaaS tells you your business can keep running. We work with UK businesses as their managed DRaaS partner, designing failover around realistic recovery time and recovery point objectives, deploying on Azure Site Recovery or equivalent replication technology, and testing that failover actually works rather than leaving it configured and untested.
Cloud backup is included as standard in our managed IT support plans, covering everyday data such as mailboxes and files. DRaaS is the next tier up for businesses that depend on servers or applications being available with minimal interruption — a client-facing system, a line-of-business application, or infrastructure that would cost real money for every hour it's down.
Among DRaaS providers UK businesses consider, cost is usually the first question, and it's a fair one — DRaaS is typically priced against the number of servers or VMs replicated and the recovery targets you need, not a flat fee that bears no relation to what's actually protected. That means a small server estate isn't paying for enterprise-scale replication it doesn't need, and you can scope managed DRaaS UK-wide to the systems that genuinely justify it.
Backup protects your data. DRaaS protects your ability to operate. If a server fails and all you have is backup, someone has to provision new infrastructure, restore the data onto it, reconfigure applications and bring everything back online — a process that can take hours or days depending on what failed. With DRaaS, a replica of your server or application is already running in the cloud, kept current through continuous replication, ready to take over within minutes of a failure being declared.
RTO is how long you can tolerate being down; RPO is how much data you can afford to lose, measured in time since the last replication point. We agree both figures with you for each system before we design anything, because a five-minute RTO for one application and a four-hour RTO for another lead to genuinely different, and differently priced, architectures.
We typically build managed DRaaS on Azure Site Recovery, replicating physical servers and virtual machines to Azure with application-consistent recovery points, so databases and mail servers come back in a usable state rather than a corrupted one.
A DRaaS environment that's never actually been failed over is a guess, not a plan. We schedule regular failover tests in an isolated environment so you know, with evidence, that your RTO and RPO targets are achievable.
DRaaS doesn't replace backup — the two work together. Backup gives you long-term retention and protection against ransomware and accidental deletion; DRaaS gives you speed of recovery for the systems that can't afford extended downtime. Our Veeam cloud backup service and managed DRaaS are typically deployed side by side, covering different recovery needs from the same underlying infrastructure.
The core components of every DRaaS deployment we manage.
We start by agreeing what "acceptable downtime" and "acceptable data loss" actually mean for each system, then design replication frequency and failover architecture backwards from those targets.
Scheduled failover drills mean the first time your DRaaS environment is tested isn't the day of a genuine outage — it's already been proven to work in a controlled exercise.
From assessment to a tested, monitored DRaaS environment — our process is built around proving recovery works.
We review your servers, applications and current backup arrangements, and agree realistic RTO and RPO targets for each system.
We design replication, failover architecture and runbooks around your actual recovery requirements, not a generic template.
Replication is configured and we run an initial failover drill before we consider the environment live.
Replication health is monitored daily and failover is retested on a scheduled basis, so your recovery plan stays proven over time.
We treat disaster recovery as something that has to be demonstrated to work, not just configured and left running. Every managed DRaaS deployment includes scheduled failover drills, not just replication that's assumed to be healthy.
We design RTO and RPO targets around what each system actually needs, so critical applications get faster failover and everyday systems aren't over-engineered at unnecessary cost.
DRaaS sits alongside our wider managed IT support and cloud backup, so the same team monitoring your servers and security is also watching your replication health, rather than a separate specialist with no visibility of the rest of your environment.
If your priority is protecting data rather than whole-system failover, our managed backup services may be the better starting point, and we're happy to talk through which combination genuinely suits your business.
We price transparently. You'll get a clear quote based on the number of servers or VMs replicated and the recovery targets agreed, before any work begins — not an open-ended arrangement that grows without warning.
We manage disaster recovery as an ongoing responsibility, not a one-off configuration project.
Scheduled drills prove your recovery targets are achievable, rather than trusting a configuration screen.
Enterprise-grade replication technology deployed and managed on your behalf, not a bespoke unproven setup.
Not every system needs the same recovery speed, and you don't pay to over-protect the ones that don't.
Replication health is checked continuously by a person, not left to an unwatched dashboard.
The same engineers who designed your DRaaS environment manage it, not a rotating support queue.
Disaster recovery, backup, security and support are managed together, so nothing falls between suppliers.
Documented runbooks and drill records are ready to hand over for cyber insurance or client due diligence.
Adding new servers or applications extends your existing DRaaS environment cleanly, without a redesign each time.
A clear quote based on servers replicated and recovery targets agreed — no vague ongoing costs.
DRaaS is one layer of business continuity, not the whole strategy. It works best alongside monitored cloud backup for long-term retention, EDR endpoint protection to reduce the chance of an incident in the first place, and a documented business continuity plan that covers people and process as well as technology. We look at managed DRaaS as one part of your wider IT support, sitting alongside our business continuity and cloud backup services, so protection is joined up rather than a single tool covering one risk in isolation.
DRaaS has moved from an enterprise-only capability to something readily available to SMEs, largely because cloud platforms like Azure now make continuous replication genuinely affordable at small scale. That's pushed tested disaster recovery from a nice-to-have into something insurers, auditors and larger clients increasingly expect evidence of before they'll sign a contract.
What to check before choosing a provider: whether failover is ever actually tested, whether RTO and RPO figures are agreed in writing per system, and whether replication health is monitored daily rather than configured once and left alone.
Who this suits: businesses running servers or applications that genuinely can't tolerate extended downtime, businesses that have outgrown a backup-only approach, and any business asked by an insurer, auditor or client to demonstrate a tested disaster recovery capability.
Common mistakes we see: businesses that assume backup and DRaaS are the same thing, businesses that have a documented recovery plan that's never been rehearsed, and businesses that set an RTO target without checking whether their infrastructure can actually meet it. Each of these turns a disaster recovery plan that looks solid on paper into one that fails under real pressure.
How we deliver it: remote-first for businesses across the UK, with London on-site coverage for server and hardware work that genuinely needs a person on-site.
Delivery model
Managed DRaaS design, deployment, testing and monitoring wherever you're based, with London on-site visits for server hardware.
draas providers uk
Managed Disaster Recovery as a Service with continuous replication and tested failover, designed and monitored by Cloudswitched.
managed draas uk
Fully managed disaster recovery, from RTO/RPO design through to scheduled failover drills, covered in detail on this page and alongside our Veeam cloud backup service.
Got questions about managed DRaaS? We've answered the most common ones below. If you need more detail, get in touch.
Disaster Recovery as a Service replicates your servers, virtual machines and applications to the cloud on an ongoing basis, so you can fail over to a running replica within minutes if your primary infrastructure fails, rather than rebuilding from backup.
Backup stores copies of your data for restore when needed. DRaaS keeps a replica of your servers and applications already running in the cloud, so failover is measured in minutes rather than the hours or days a full rebuild from backup can take.
RTO (recovery time objective) is how long you can tolerate being down. RPO (recovery point objective) is how much data, measured in time, you can afford to lose. We agree both figures with you for each system before designing your DRaaS environment.
We schedule regular failover drills in an isolated environment, so your recovery time and recovery point targets are proven with evidence, not assumed from a configuration screen.
Pricing depends on the number of servers or VMs replicated and the recovery targets you need. We provide a clear, itemised quote once we understand your environment, rather than a flat fee unrelated to what's protected.
If your systems can tolerate a slower rebuild from backup, cloud backup alone may be sufficient. If any system needs to be back up within minutes rather than hours, DRaaS closes that gap alongside your existing backup.
Most deployments, including an initial failover drill, are configured and monitored within two to four weeks, depending on the number of servers and applications involved.
You contact our helpdesk, we confirm the outage and declare a failover, and your systems come online in the replica environment following the documented runbook we designed with you when the environment was set up.
Limited time offer — valid until 31/05/2026
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