What Are The Best Disaster Recovery as a Service (DRaaS) Tool For IT Leaders In 2026

When disaster strikes—ransomware, hardware failure, natural disaster—your disaster recovery plan becomes the difference between a bad day and a business-ending catastrophe.

59% of outages result in at least $100,000 in losses, and the average ransomware downtime is three weeks. For 98% of organizations, an hour of downtime costs over $100,000.

Traditional disaster recovery is broken. Maintaining idle backup infrastructure drains budgets. Untested recovery plans fail when you need them most. Your team scrambles during crises without expert support.

Disaster Recovery as a Service (DRaaS) changes the economics. Cloud-based recovery with consumption pricing eliminates capital expenditure on backup datacenters. Regular testing and proven processes replace hope-based planning. Expert support replaces your team's crisis scrambling.

This guide examines four DRaaS providers with distinct approaches: AWS-specialized cloud recovery, IBM Power expertise, consultative risk assessment, and fully managed hypervisor replication.

‍

VAST IT Services: The AWS Elastic Disaster Recovery Specialist

‍

VAST IT Services built their DRaaS offering exclusively on AWS Elastic Disaster Recovery. With 35 years in business and three consecutive years as a CRN MSP 500 provider, they've mastered one platform and deliver it exceptionally well.

What They Do Well

VAST achieves Recovery Point Objectives (RPO) in seconds and Recovery Time Objectives (RTO) in minutes for critical applications. Their continuous replication using small executable agents ensures minimal data loss even in catastrophic failures.

The consumption-based, pay-as-you-go model eliminates capital expenditure on idle backup infrastructure. You pay only for compute and storage used during actual failover events. VAST claims clients can cut disaster recovery costs in half while improving RTO/RPO to seconds or minutes.

VAST supports three critical scenarios: on-premises systems failing over into AWS, cloud applications failing over into AWS, and cross-region AWS-to-AWS recovery. The solution handles both Windows and Linux servers across VMware and Hyper-V environments.

Their unified orchestration process enables testing, recovery, and failback without specialized skills. During a crisis, your team executes recovery without becoming AWS experts first. The high automation reduces manual errors when pressure is highest.

Point-in-time recovery lets you restore to the most recent state or any previous point in time—critical for ransomware scenarios where you need a clean state before encryption occurred.

Elastic scalability means you can protect anywhere from a few servers to virtually unlimited servers. Idle cloud resources only spin up during failover events, eliminating waste.

What to Watch For

VAST's DRaaS is AWS-only. If you're committed to Azure, Google Cloud, or on-premises disaster recovery, this solution won't fit your infrastructure.

Best Suited For

Hybrid Cloud Migrations to AWS: Organizations migrating to AWS can use VAST's DRaaS as both disaster recovery and a migration pathway for on-premises VMware or Hyper-V workloads.

AWS-Committed Organizations: Companies standardized on AWS wanting disaster recovery deeply integrated with their platform.

Cost-Conscious Mid-Market Companies: Organizations needing enterprise-grade disaster recovery without capital expenditure on physical backup sites.

Cross-Region AWS Protection: AWS-native applications requiring resilience across AWS regions to meet compliance requirements.

Fast Recovery Requirements: Workloads where RTO must be measured in minutes and RPO in seconds, critical business applications that can't tolerate extended downtime.

Questions to Ask VAST IT Services

1. What are your guaranteed RPO and RTO for our specific environment, and are these backed by SLA penalties? Get commitments, not estimates.
2. How do you handle AWS service limits and quotas to ensure our disaster recovery environment can scale during actual failover? Verify capacity exists when you need it.
3. What is your process and timeline for failback after a disaster recovery event? Understand the full recovery cycle, not just failover.
4. How do you optimize AWS costs during normal operations versus during failover events, and what total costs should we expect? Get the complete cost picture including data transfer and storage.
5. What testing schedule do you recommend, and can we perform non-disruptive tests on demand? Ensure you can validate recovery without impacting production.

‍

ProCern Technology Solutions: The IBM Power Specialist

‍

ProCern Technology Solutions specializes in disaster recovery for IBM Power environments, IBM i (AS/400) and AIX systems. Their DRaaS is built on Rocket iCluster replication to ProCern's private cloud infrastructure.

What They Do Well

ProCern delivers real-time continuous mirroring of IBM i workloads to their secure private cloud, achieving near-zero downtime through automated failover. The solution is specifically designed for IBM Power Systems, addressing the unique requirements of legacy IBM environments.

Their private cloud infrastructure runs in SSAE16 SOC2, PCI DSS, and HIPAA audited data centers located more than 300 miles apart. This geographic separation ensures protection against regional disasters while meeting compliance requirements for regulated industries.

ProCern's service is fully managed by IBM-certified engineers, including recognized IBM i experts. This expertise is critical since IBM i skillsets are increasingly rare. Customers get 24×7 monitoring and management without hiring specialized staff.

The solution is migration-ready, meaning legacy IBM Power servers can move to ProCern's cloud seamlessly. You can also co-locate Windows and Linux servers alongside IBM i, consolidating infrastructure in ProCern's environment.

ProCern delivers predictable OPEX pricing through fixed monthly subscription fees, eliminating capital expenditure on duplicate IBM hardware. Data is encrypted both in transit and at rest, with all disaster recovery testing documented for compliance audits.

What to Watch For

ProCern's DRaaS is IBM Power-centric. Businesses without IBM i or AIX systems won't find relevant disaster recovery here.

The solution uses ProCern's private cloud rather than public cloud platforms. Scalability and geographic diversity depend on ProCern's Midwest data center locations.

Best Suited For

IBM i and AIX Environments: Mid-market enterprises running IBM Power Systems needing specialized disaster recovery expertise.

Regulated Industries on IBM Power: Banks, manufacturers, distributors, and healthcare organizations with IBM i systems requiring HIPAA, PCI DSS, or SOC2 compliance.

Legacy System Modernization: Organizations seeking to move IBM workloads to a cloud-like model on an OPEX basis while maintaining robust disaster recovery.

IBM i Cloud Migration: Companies eliminating on-premises IBM hardware by hosting production and disaster recovery in ProCern's audited data centers.

Businesses Lacking IBM i Expertise: Organizations struggling to find or retain IBM i talent can leverage ProCern's certified engineers for 24×7 support.

Questions to Ask ProCern

1. What exactly is replicated—full machine images or object-level data—and what is the typical RTO/RPO you achieve for IBM i environments? Get specific metrics, not general claims.
2. How often is failover tested, can we initiate test failovers on demand, and what documentation do you provide for compliance audits? Verify testing rigor and audit support.
3. What networking requirements and bandwidth are needed for continuous Rocket iCluster replication from our environment? Understand infrastructure prerequisites.
4. How are IBM i patches, upgrades, and PTFs handled in your cloud environment? Clarify ongoing maintenance responsibilities.
5. Can you provide copies of your SSAE-16/SOC2, PCI DSS, and HIPAA audit reports for your data centers? Verify compliance claims with documentation.

‍

‍

Forbin: The Risk Assessment and Planning Partner

‍

Forbin brings 25+ years of experience with a consultative approach to disaster recovery. They begin with comprehensive risk assessment, evaluating equipment and information needing protection before recommending solutions.

What They Do Well

Forbin's risk assessment evaluates both equipment to protect (computers, monitors, servers, printers, phones, smartphones) and information to protect (customer PHI, financial information, proprietary IP, trade secrets, operational and inventory data). This comprehensive approach ensures disaster recovery addresses actual business risks.

Their business impact framing helps IT leaders secure executive buy-in: 20% of organizations experienced serious or severe outages in the past three years, 59% of outages result in at least $100,000 in total losses, and average ransomware downtime in 2021 was three weeks.

Forbin emphasizes proactive disaster recovery planning rather than reactive crisis response.

They focus on customer trust and reputation, recognizing that compromised customer information can permanently damage relationships. This holistic view extends beyond technology recovery to business continuity.

Forbin serves clients across the United States and Canada, with particular focus on healthcare providers and home medical equipment (HME) companies requiring HIPAA compliance and PHI protection.

Best Suited For

Healthcare Providers and HME Companies: Organizations handling protected health information (PHI) requiring HIPAA-compliant disaster recovery with documented processes.

Small to Mid-Sized Businesses: Companies with 10-500 employees needing guidance on disaster recovery planning without dedicated IT leadership.

Risk Assessment-First Organizations: Businesses wanting to understand actual vulnerabilities before investing in disaster recovery solutions.

Customer-Facing Businesses: Organizations where customer trust and reputation are critical assets that data breaches or outages would directly damage.

US and Canada Operations: Businesses operating in United States and Canada needing disaster recovery planning and implementation support.

Questions to Ask Forbin

1. What backup and replication technologies do you use, and is customer data stored on-site, in the cloud, or both? Understand the technical foundation.
2. What are the expected RTO and RPO for systems under your disaster recovery plan—specifically, how quickly can you bring up a lost server? Get concrete recovery timelines.
3. How often do you test disaster recoveries, can we observe tests, and what reporting do you provide? Verify testing rigor and transparency.
4. What security measures and certifications do you have for protecting PHI, financial data, and other sensitive information? Confirm compliance capabilities.
5. Can you provide customer references for disaster recovery work in our industry with similar compliance requirements? Validate relevant experience.

‍

Xigent Solutions: The Fully Managed Hypervisor Replication

‍

Xigent Solutions offers fully managed DRaaS (branded as xRaaS) based on continuous hypervisor-level replication using Zerto technology. Workloads replicate from your data center to Xigent's secure Hybrid Services (XHS) data centers in Minnesota and South Dakota.

What They Do Well

Xigent achieves aggressive recovery metrics with RPOs as low as a few minutes and RTOs in minutes through continuous replication at the hypervisor level. In declared disasters, failover completes in minutes thanks to pre-replicated virtual machines.

The solution supports VMware and Hyper-V VMs, physical servers, and cloud-hosted systems including AWS and Azure VMs. It's storage-agnostic, meaning you can replicate from any storage system without platform constraints.

Xigent provides bi-annual recovery testing by default, generating documentation for compliance audits. Testing is non-disruptive to production operations. They offer 24×7 phone support from their service team, who can trigger failovers on your behalf during crises.

Their XHS data centers are SSAE-16 SOC2 certified with encrypted data in transit and at rest. Customers access a self-service portal for monitoring SLA performance while Xigent handles design, deployment, 24×7 monitoring, and on-demand failover support.

Xigent's case studies demonstrate measurable results. Black Hills Federal Credit Union achieved cost-effective protection replicating all critical systems with proven recoverability through scheduled testing. R&P Group protected all critical components with continuous data protection achieving less than five minutes of data loss and recovery time of 1-2 hours.

The service automatically tiers workloads into a low-cost staging area in the cloud, optimizing costs during normal operations. You pay consumption-based pricing, avoiding capital costs of dedicated disaster recovery sites.

What to Watch For

Xigent's DRaaS uses their own XHS cloud infrastructure in the Midwest. Organizations needing geographically distributed failover beyond these locations should discuss global reach options.

Best Suited For

Mid-Market and Enterprise Organizations: Companies requiring robust cloud-based recovery with very fast RTO/RPO and fully managed operations.

VMware and Hyper-V Environments: Businesses running virtualized infrastructure needing hypervisor-level replication without storage dependencies.

Regulated Industries: Financial services (credit unions, banks), healthcare, and other sectors where data protection and compliance documentation are paramount.

Multi-Site Operations Without DR Infrastructure: Firms with multiple branches or sites lacking their own disaster recovery data centers.

Physical and Cloud Workload Mix: Organizations running on-premises physical servers alongside AWS or Azure VMs requiring unified disaster recovery.

Regular Testing Requirements: Businesses needing documented disaster recovery testing for compliance audits with minimal operational disruption.

Questions to Ask Xigent Solutions

1. What are your guaranteed RTO and RPO under SLA, and are they backed by penalties if you fail to meet them? Get contractual commitments.
2. How are recovery tests scheduled, what customer involvement is needed, and what documentation do you provide for audits? Understand testing procedures and deliverables.
3. What compute and network charges apply during failover events beyond base storage costs? Get complete pricing for disaster scenarios.
4. How do you handle ransomware recovery—can we roll back to clean points in time, and how do you detect infected backups? Verify ransomware protection capabilities.
5. Can you provide the full case studies for Black Hills Federal Credit Union and R&P Group, including detailed recovery metrics? Review documented customer outcomes.

‍

Making the Right Choice

The right DRaaS provider solves your specific problems without creating new dependencies or budget nightmares.

Choose VAST IT Services if you're committed to AWS and want consumption-based pricing with RPO in seconds and RTO in minutes through AWS Elastic Disaster Recovery.

Choose ProCern Technology Solutions if you run IBM i or AIX systems and need specialized expertise with SSAE-16/SOC2/PCI/HIPAA compliant private cloud infrastructure.

Choose Forbin if you're a small to mid-sized business in healthcare or HME needing consultative risk assessment and disaster recovery planning with HIPAA focus.

Choose Xigent Solutions if you need fully managed hypervisor-level replication supporting VMware, Hyper-V, physical servers, and cloud VMs with bi-annual testing and 24×7 support.

The best DRaaS relationship delivers documented recovery capabilities, not marketing promises. Demand specific RPO and RTO metrics for your environment. Insist on regular testing that proves the solution works. Verify compliance with audit reports, not claims.

Because untested disaster recovery isn't a plan, it's hope. And hope isn't a strategy.

‍

A Comparative Overview of DRaaS Solutions

‍

Closing Thoughts

Disaster recovery separates businesses that survive crises from those that don't. The statistics are clear: outages cost $100,000+ per hour for most organizations, and ransomware creates three weeks of downtime on average.

Maintaining idle backup infrastructure drains budgets without guarantees. DRaaS changes the model: consumption-based pricing, continuous replication, proven recovery processes, and expert support during crises.

The providers in this guide take different approaches. VAST specializes in AWS with seconds of RPO and minutes of RTO. ProCern focuses on IBM Power with private cloud infrastructure meeting strict compliance requirements. Forbin offers consultative risk assessment for small to mid-sized businesses. Xigent delivers fully managed hypervisor replication with bi-annual testing.

Choose based on your platform, compliance requirements, and recovery speed needs. Demand specific RPO/RTO commitments backed by SLAs. Insist on regular testing with documented results. Verify compliance with audit reports.

Also read: Best Zero Trust to consider.

It’s enough that you have to focus on your Disaster Recovery plans and when you add “finding the right DRaaS” solution on top of that, it becomes more frustrating.

Which is why the TechnologyMatch platform helps you trim away the noise and find the right tech partners faster.

Here’s how you can explore these vendors on the TechnologyMatch platform:

1. After you signup to TechnologyMatch, search for "Disaster Recovery as a Service" or “DRaaS” on the dashboard.

‍

2. Navigate through the solution providers and their offerings. Accept Match with the potential partner or vendor.‍

‍

3. The new match will show up in the “My Matches” section of your dashboard. You can now message them or schedule a meeting. The meeting then shows up in your calendar.‍

‍

We know how difficult it is to find and work with the right managed service providers in the market today. There’s too much noise and not enough reliable partners. Which is why we built TechnologyMatch:

• Our platform is buyer-first, so potential partners have no way of spamming you with cold outreach.
• Only you can make the first move by messaging them and scheduling calls.
• All your potential partners can be managed and evaluated from a single dashboard, without having to switch platforms or sift through emails.
• You get access to potential partners, resellers, vendors, and solution providers who have been verified through a strict vetting process.