Disaster Recovery as a Service (DRaaS)
Backup saves your data. Disaster Recovery saves your business.
When systems go down – whether it’s ransomware, a power failure, or a hardware disaster – the question isn’t whether your data is safe. It’s whether your business can keep running. IronTree’s Disaster Recovery as a Service gets your critical systems back online in as fast as 15–30 minutes, fully managed, with no capital outlay required.
- Recovery time of 15–30 minutes
- Quarterly failover testing included
- Tamper-proof, ransomware-resistant storage
- South Africa’s premier Acronis DR partner
Most businesses have a backup. Far fewer have a recovery plan.
There’s a critical difference between the two – and confusing them is one of the most common and costly mistakes a business can make.
CLOUD BACKUP
Saves your data
- Stores copies of your files and systems
- Recovers lost or corrupted data
- Protects against accidental deletion
- Restore time: minutes to hours
Your data comes back. Your systems may not.
DISASTER RECOVERY
Keeps your business running
- Replicates your entire IT environment in the cloud
- Restores full systems, applications, and configurations
- Business operations continue with minimal interruption
- Recovery time: from 15–30 minutes
Your business comes back. Fast.
Backup and DR are complementary – but one cannot replace the other. If you only have backup, you have half a recovery plan.
Downtime isn’t just an IT problem. It’s a business problem.
Every hour your systems are offline costs money – in lost productivity, missed transactions, and damaged client relationships. For regulated businesses, downtime can also trigger compliance failures and reporting liabilities under POPIA. And for any business, the reputational damage from extended outages can take years to repair.
The risks are also shifting. Ransomware attackers increasingly target backup systems first – eliminating your recovery options before triggering an attack. Localised infrastructure failures (transformer theft, municipal cable damage) are causing extended, unpredictable outages that businesses haven’t planned for. And cyber insurers are now requiring proof of tested disaster recovery before issuing cover.
R223,000+
The average cost of a single downtime incident for a South African SME – and that’s before accounting for reputational damage, compliance penalties, or lost clients.
FREE TOOL
Downtime Cost Estimator
Work out what an hour – or a day – of downtime could cost your business. Takes two minutes.
It’s not just ransomware. Here’s what businesses are actually up against.
Ransomware
Attackers increasingly target backup systems first. Without immutable, isolated DR, your recovery options can be eliminated before you even know you’ve been hit.
Power and infrastructure failure
Localised outages – transformer theft, cable damage, municipal failures – are causing unpredictable, extended downtime that national grid statistics don’t capture.
Hardware failure
Servers fail. Storage fails. When on-premise hardware goes down, recovery from backup alone can take hours or days – not the minutes your business needs.
Natural disasters and physical damage
Floods, fires, and theft don’t give notice. If your systems and your backups are in the same physical location, a single event can take out both.
FREE ASSESSMENT
Downtime Resilience Assessment
Get your resilience score. Find out how exposed your business actually is – and where the gaps are. Takes five minutes online.
Your path back to normal – in as fast as 15 to 30 minutes
IronTree’s DRaaS replicates your entire IT environment – servers, applications, settings, and configurations – into our private cloud infrastructure. If your primary environment goes down for any reason, we fail over to the DR environment and your business keeps running. When the primary environment is restored, we fail back. The whole process is managed by our expert team.
15–30 minute RTO
Recovery Time Objective of 15–30 minutes means your critical systems are back online fast – not after hours of restoration work. Your business doesn’t stop for long.
Tamper-proof storage
Your DR environment uses static, immutable storage – it can’t be encrypted or deleted by ransomware. Your most recent clean state is always protected and always recoverable.
Zero capital expenditure
No DR hardware to buy, maintain, or eventually replace. For a monthly subscription, IronTree’s private cloud infrastructure is your DR environment.
Quarterly failover testing
Four times a year, we simulate a real failover to prove your DR environment actually works. Most businesses never test their DR – we test yours for you, and give you a documented audit report.
Audit report included
After each failover simulation, you receive a detailed audit report suitable for your Annual Results Pack, board reporting, or cyber insurance documentation.
Integrates with IronTree Backup
DRaaS works seamlessly alongside IronTree Cloud Backup – together they give you both data recovery and full business continuity. The complete solution.
- Acronis premier dr partner
In July 2025, IronTree (formerly IronTree) was named Acronis’ Premier Disaster Recovery Partner for South Africa – the highest level of DR partnership Acronis awards in the region.
Trusted by South African Businesses
Not sure if your business is ready – or whether DR is the right next step?
Disaster Recovery is a more significant investment than backup – and it’s the right investment for businesses that can’t afford extended downtime. If your systems going offline for more than an hour would seriously impact your operations, revenue, or clients, DR belongs in your plan. These free resources will help you work out where you stand.
FREE CHECKLIST
Disaster Recovery Checklist
A practical checklist to assess your current DR readiness and identify what’s missing from your plan.
FREE STARTER PACK
Downtime Recovery Starter Pack
Everything you need to start building a downtime recovery strategy for your business – templates, guidance, and a clear starting point.
Go deeper – or start planning right now
FREE TEMPLATE
Business Emergency (DR) Plan
A ready-to-complete Business Emergency Plan template – so you have a documented response plan before you need one, not after.
Want to understand the full picture? These articles go deeper on why DR matters for South African businesses right now:
IronTree blog
Backup saves your data. Disaster Recovery saves your business.
The clearest explanation of why backup alone isn’t enough – and what proper disaster recovery looks like for South African businesses.
ITWeb
Downtime recovery: Reframing backup and DR within your IT strategy
For IT managers and decision-makers who want the full strategic picture on integrating backup and DR into a coherent business continuity plan.
ITWeb
The new risk reality for SA SMEs in 2026
Why the threat landscape has shifted and what South African businesses need to do about it – ransomware, infrastructure risk, and cyber insurance requirements.
MyBroadband
Backups won’t save your business – knowing your resilience score will
Why resilience is the new measure of business continuity – and how to find out where your business actually stands before an outage forces the answer.
Ready to find out what a DR solution would look like for your business? Let’s talk.
Tell us about your environment – what you’re running, how critical your uptime is, and what your biggest concerns are. We’ll give you an honest picture of what you need and what it costs. No jargon, no pressure.
Get in touch
We're here when you need us
A real, human team in South Africa that knows your setup and picks up the phone. Call us or drop us a message and we’ll get back to you – usually the same day.
Phone
087 943 2278
Address
Unit 1 Westlake Square, Westlake, Cape Town
"*" indicates required fields