Few things can cripple a business faster than unexpected downtime — and the threat is only growing. According to the State of BCDR Report 2025, 9 in 10 organizations experienced operational downtime in 2024. This creates a significant challenge, particularly for managed service providers (MSPs) like you, who are responsible for keeping your clients’ business operations running all the time.
Imagine one of your clients facing a complete business shutdown due to a ransomware attack, hardware failure or even a natural disaster. How long would they survive without access to their critical data and systems? More importantly, how would that impact your reputation as their trusted IT provider?
Notably, the financial implications of downtime are staggering. For am SMB with $10 million in annual revenue, downtime can cost up to $55,000 per day. That means every passing minute of disruption directly impacts your clients’ bottom line. For MSPs like you, the stakes are even higher. Missed service level agreements (SLAs) result in costly penalties, repeated downtime erodes client trust and a damaged reputation drives customers to your competitors. In short, business continuity isn’t just a client concern — it’s a critical factor in an MSP’s long-term success.
That’s why MSPs must have the foresight to look beyond traditional backup. To ensure 24/7 operational continuity and business resilience for clients, MSPs must embrace a more robust business continuity and disaster recovery (BCDR) strategy. In this article, we’ll explore why reliable BCDR has become a must for MSPs today and how Datto delivers an all-in-one solution designed for rapid recovery and always-on resilience that keeps your clients’ businesses running no matter what.
The case for reliable BCDR: Why backup alone is not enough
Maintaining business continuity has never been more challenging for organizations. Cyber criminals are now leveraging automation, artificial intelligence (AI) and advanced evasion tactics to bypass traditional security defenses. Worse yet, they are increasingly targeting backups first to cripple a company’s ability to recover. At the same time, unplanned outages and extreme weather events are also becoming more frequent, making it harder than ever for businesses to keep their operations running.
With limited IT budgets and less mature security programs, SMBs are the primary casualties of these disruptions. When disaster strikes, every minute of downtime puts their operations, revenue and future at risk, making rapid recovery an absolute necessity. The State of BCDR Report 2025 underlines this growing focus of businesses on swift recovery, with more than half of organizations already looking to switch backup providers, citing limited disaster recovery (DR) capabilities as a major frustration.
This presents both a challenge and an opportunity for MSPs. Those who can guarantee operational continuity and true business resilience can gain a competitive edge, securing higher-value, long-term client relationships. MSPs that embrace full-scale BCDR aren’t just protecting client data; they’re ensuring the survival of their clients’ businesses, reputations and revenue streams — and, in turn, their own.
Not all BCDR solutions are equal: What true resilience looks like
Not all BCDR solutions are created equal. While many offer basic backup and recovery, true resilience requires a solution that ensures instant failover, data integrity and seamless continuity, no matter the disruption. For MSPs, choosing the right BCDR platform is critical since their reputation depends on their ability to restore operations without delay.
Here are some key features MSPs must demand in a BCDR solution
- Instant recovery and virtualization: When disaster strikes, every second counts. A resilient BCDR solution must enable clients to resume operations within minutes, whether by seamlessly failing over to a backup environment or instantly virtualizing systems in the cloud. The ability to quickly spin up critical workloads ensures businesses stay operational, even when primary systems go offline.
- Immutable, ransomware-proof backups: Cybercriminals increasingly target backups first, attempting to encrypt or delete them. That’s why immutability is non-negotiable. A resilient BCDR solution should ensure that backups cannot be altered, encrypted or deleted, making recovery possible even in the worst-case scenario.
- Cloud + local redundancy: Reliability comes from redundancy. A hybrid cloud and local backup approach provides the best of both worlds — fast local recovery for day-to-day incidents and secure cloud failover for large-scale disasters. This dual-layer strategy guarantees business continuity, whether facing hardware failure, cyberattacks or natural disasters.
- Continuous data protection (minimal RTO/RPO): The less data lost, the better. A resilient BCDR solution should offer frequent, automated backups to keep the recovery point objective (RPO) and recovery time objective (RTO) as low as possible. Near-instant replication ensures that businesses can restore their most recent data, minimizing downtime and financial impact.
How Datto BCDR exceeds these requirements
Datto BCDR goes beyond meeting industry standards, delivering a leading-edge platform designed for instant failover, ironclad data protection and complete resilience.
- Patented instant virtualization: Every minute of downtime costs businesses thousands of dollars, which is why Datto’s patented instant virtualization ensures clients stay operational within minutes, not hours. MSPs can instantly virtualize their clients’ systems locally or in the cloud, restoring access to critical applications without delay.
At the heart of this rapid recovery process is Datto’s groundbreaking 1-Click Disaster Recovery (1-Click DR). This feature makes disaster recovery (DR) as simple as pressing “play” on a saved recording — MSPs can replicate previously successful DR tests with a single click. Instead of manually reconfiguring virtual machines (VMs) and network settings in the middle of a crisis, technicians can apply the same configurations from a verified DR test, eliminating human error and significantly reducing recovery times. With this effortless, automation-driven recovery, MSPs can meet even the most demanding RTOs of their clients.
- Immutable backups with built-in ransomware detection: Data security is only as strong as its weakest link, and Datto ensures there are no vulnerabilities. Datto SIRIS backup appliances are built on the secure software development lifecycle (SSDLC) methodology, incorporating a hardened Linux-based operating system and strict role-based access controls (RBAC) to minimize attack surfaces.
Meanwhile, Datto Cloud is purpose-built for cloud backup and disaster recovery, offering multiple layers of protection that ensure MSPs and their clients are protected against sophisticated cyberthreats. With Datto Cloud, you get:
- A geographical distribution that ensures backups are stored across multiple locations for maximum availability.
- Enterprise-grade security, including AES-256 encryption (at rest and in transit), two-factor authentication (2FA) and immutable storage.
- Cloud Deletion Defense™ that enables instant recovery of deleted agents or backup snapshots, whether the deletion was accidental or malicious.
- A proven, battle-tested platform that performs over 10,000 successful restores per month.
- Unified cloud and local failover to guarantee uptime: Datto BCDR provides the best of both worlds: local backups for rapid recovery and automated hourly replication to the immutable Datto Cloud for disaster recovery. This hybrid model ensures that businesses can failover locally for quick restores while also having cloud-based protection for large-scale disasters.
- Automated backup verification: A backup is only useful if it actually works when needed. Datto BCDR eliminates uncertainty by automatically verifying the integrity of every backup. Through screenshot verification and other advanced integrity checks, MSPs receive confirmation that their backups are functional and ready for immediate recovery. This proactive approach removes the guesswork and ensures that every recovery is a success.
From firefighting to futureproofing: How Datto BCDR boosts MSP productivity and profitability
Datto BCDR empowers MSPs to offer superior BCDR services while maximizing efficiency, reducing operational burdens and driving profitability.
Get seamless management with a unified partner portal.
Managing multiple clients, backups and DR operations can be complex and time-consuming. Datto BCDR simplifies this with a centralized dashboard where MSPs can monitor, manage and recover all client systems. This means faster response times when managing backups and DR scenarios, efficient troubleshooting with full visibility into backup status and health, and unparalleled scalability, whether you manage a handful of clients or hundreds.
Focus on high-value services with reduced support workload.
Emergency recovery calls are costly, stressful and time-intensive. Traditional backup solutions often leave MSPs scrambling when disaster strikes, eating into valuable resources and forcing them into reactive firefighting. With Datto BCDR’s automation, instant recovery and seamless failover, the number of emergency support calls is drastically reduced, and you can redirect your technicians’ efforts toward higher-value, revenue-generating services.
Higher client retention with guaranteed business continuity.
A single failed recovery event can cause businesses to lose trust in their MSP, leading to churn and reputational damage. Datto BCDR ensures that MSPs can deliver on their promises. When businesses know their MSP can keep them running no matter what, they are far less likely to seek alternatives.
Boost monthly recurring revenue (MRR) with premium BCDR services.
Business continuity isn’t just a necessity; it’s a premium service that businesses are willing to pay for. Datto BCDR enables MSPs to position BCDR as a high-value, managed service, allowing them to:
- Offer tiered pricing models with premium recovery guarantees.
- Bundle BCDR into comprehensive IT service packages.
- Increase MRR by upselling enhanced DR options.
Real-world success: How MSPs are winning with Datto BCDR
The true power of a BCDR solution is measured by its performance in real-world crisis scenarios. Techify and Invenio IT are two of the many MSPs that have experienced Datto BCDR’s robust capabilities firsthand.
Techify: 19 TB restored in under two hours after a ransomware attack
For Techify, Datto BCDR has been the backbone of their backup and disaster recovery strategy for over six years. One of their most significant successes came when a large architectural firm they support was hit by ransomware, all from a seemingly harmless document printer.
With Datto BCDR, Techify was able to restore 19 TB of critical data in under two hours, getting the firm back to business with minimal disruption. The speed of recovery was crucial, as every billable hour for the firm was worth $800. Without Datto’s instant recovery and seamless failover capabilities, the financial and operational impact could have been devastating.
“When you think about how you can utilize Datto BCDR, it is amazing.” – Jermaine Clark, VP of Operations, Techify
Invenio IT: Scaling a business-continuity-focused MSP with Datto’s global presence
For Invenio IT, business continuity isn’t just a service; it’s their core business model. Since 2009, they’ve built their company around Datto BCDR, ensuring clients across North America, South America, Europe and Asia have a reliable continuity strategy.
As a small, seven-person team, scaling their business was once a challenge. That changed when they aligned it with Datto’s expansive global presence and scalable cloud DR solution. With Datto’s geographical redundancy, strong market visibility and enterprise-grade cloud infrastructure, Invenio IT was able to grow significantly, expand into new markets and strengthen its service offerings.
“Datto’s growth is exponential, and so is ours.” – Dale Shulmistra, President, Invenio IT
Protect clients, boost profits: The MSP advantage with Datto BCDR
For businesses, downtime means lost revenue. For MSPs, slow recovery means lost trust. Clients rely on you to restore operations instantly, and anything less can put your reputation on the line. With guaranteed instant recovery, ransomware-proof backups and seamless management, Datto BCDR empowers MSPs like you to deliver unmatched business continuity while boosting profitability and client loyalty.
As the demand for always-on business continuity continues to grow, so does the opportunity for MSPs. Offering BCDR as a managed service isn’t just a value-add — it’s a competitive advantage. Those who embrace it will build stronger, more profitable businesses, while those who don’t, risk falling behind.
Now is the time to turn BCDR into your next revenue stream before your competition does. Future-proof your MSP business with Datto BCDR. Partner with us today.
Edited by
Erik Linask
