Azure Recoverability Initiative

The Azure Recoverability Initiative (ARI) is a proactive effort to significantly bolster the resiliency and recoverability of critical Azure tenant services. By leveraging DevOps practices, implementing standardized backups and defining recovery strategies, ARI not only minimizes downtime risks but also strengthens the enterprise's operational posture. This project serves as a critical enabler of business continuity, cost control and long-term scalability.

LedgerIQ

Problem

Statement

The Azure Recoverability Initiative (ARI) is a strategic, long-term project designed to enhance the CloudOps team's capability to rebuild Azure Tenant services effectively in the event of a major failure. The core objective is to ensure that recovery operations can be executed within clearly defined Recovery Time Objectives (RTO) and Recovery Point Objectives (RPO).

Launched in December 2024, ARI addresses key concerns around service resiliency, such as:

  • PlannerSync PDH What is the current recoverability status of shared services and tenant-specific workloads?
  • PlannerSync PDH How efficiently can we restore all services in an alternate region if needed?
  • PlannerSync PDH What is the time frame to recover specific resource groups?
  • PlannerSync PDH How can we better manage and monitor changes within shared services configurations?
LedgerIQ

Solution

Proposed

Key Objectives

  • Java Revamp Establish a baseline for the Azure Tenant’s recoverability capabilities.
  • Java Revamp Develop a comprehensive Recoverability Matrix to track, control and enhance service availability and resilience.
  • Java Revamp Promote Infrastructure as Code (IaC) and DevOps best practices to streamline management and deployment.
  • Java Revamp Implement standardized backup strategies for critical tenant resources.
  • Java Revamp Define a structured roadmap aimed at achieving target resiliency and recoverability standards.
LedgerIQ

Implementation Plan

01

IaC Exporting Framework

Define and deploy a scheduled process for exporting tenant configurations as code.

02

Backup Strategy

Implement backup solutions for identified essential data components.

03

Validation & Governance

Enforce IaC validation routines to ensure integrity and consistency.

04

Environment Cleanup

Remove legacy resource groups (e.g., those created by AVANADE) to declutter the tenant.

05

Recoverability Toolkit

Develop a shared services assessment framework and a recovery playbook to guide restoration efforts.

Business

Values

This initiative delivers tangible business benefits across financial, operational and strategic domains:

01

Reduced Downtime Costs

Enhancing recovery capabilities minimizes service outages and associated business impact.

02

Regulatory Compliance and Risk Management

Strengthens alignment with industry standards and reduces operational risk.

03

Business Continuity and Customer Confidence

Ensures seamless operations during disruptions, reinforcing client trust.

04

Improved Recovery Efficiency

Achieves faster recovery through defined RTO/RPO targets.

05

Cost-Effective Disaster Recovery

Optimizes resource allocation and disaster recovery planning.

06

Scalability and Strategic Flexibility

Builds a resilient foundation adaptable to future growth and architectural changes.