CTS - Computer Technology Specialists
Healthcare Disaster Recovery
A Melbourne allied health group engaged CTS to put a real disaster recovery capability behind its clinical systems and patient data. Backups were running to overnight tape with no tested recovery procedure and no documented RTO — and a ransomware simulation exercise revealed a 72-hour potential recovery window. CTS replaced tape with immutable cloud backup, documented a 4-hour RTO runbook, and validated it through tabletop exercises — supporting the provider's privacy obligations and RACGP accreditation.
Melbourne IT support with visible local credentials
CTS - Computer Technology Specialists has supported Melbourne SMBs since 2000. Contact: 1300 790 780, hello@cts.au, L30 - 35 Collins St Melbourne 3000.
Certifications, affiliations and technology partners
Microsoft Partner, ACSC Essential Eight aligned, ISO 27001 practices, NBN Business Accredited Adviser, Cisco Partner, Dell Partner, HPE Partner, Arcserve Partner, Broadcom Partner, Kyocera Partner.
The challenge
For an allied health group, an inability to recover patient records quickly is both a continuity risk and a privacy and compliance problem — and a ransomware simulation made the exposure concrete.
- Patient data and the practice management system depended on overnight tape backups
- Tape backups had no tested recovery procedure and no documented RTO
- A ransomware simulation exercise revealed a 72-hour potential recovery window
- Recovery success was unproven, with no defined recovery point objective
- A prolonged outage would disrupt patient care and risk RACGP accreditation findings
The CTS solution
CTS replaced tape with immutable cloud backup and built a documented, tested recovery process around it.
- Replaced overnight tape with immutable cloud backup via Arcserve and Azure Backup
- Documented a 4-hour RTO runbook for clinical systems and patient data
- Defined RPO targets and replicated critical systems for rapid cloud recovery
- Encrypted data in transit and at rest in line with privacy obligations
- Conducted two tabletop exercises with the practice management team
Testing and compliance
A backup is only as good as its last successful restore, so CTS built testing into the ongoing service.
- Two successful tabletop exercises validating the documented recovery runbook
- Documented test results retained as evidence of a working DR capability
- Data handling aligned to the provider's privacy and RACGP record-keeping obligations
The results
The provider now has a tested, documented disaster recovery capability rather than an untested tape backup.
- Recovery time objective reduced from 72 hours to 4 hours for critical systems
- Tape replaced with immutable, off-site backups resilient to ransomware
- Two tabletop exercises passed, proving recovery within target
- RACGP accreditation maintained at renewal with no IT governance findings
- Defined RTO and RPO targets giving the practice clear continuity expectations
Technologies deployed
Immutable cloud backup via Arcserve and Microsoft Azure Backup, encryption in transit and at rest, and a documented 4-hour RTO recovery runbook validated through tabletop exercises.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between a backup and disaster recovery?
A backup is a copy of your data; disaster recovery is the tested ability to get your systems and data back into operation within a defined time after an incident. This provider had backups but no tested recovery process — CTS added the immutable storage, defined targets and documented, tested runbooks that turn backups into genuine disaster recovery.
What is an RTO and why does it matter for healthcare?
RTO — recovery time objective — is the maximum acceptable time to restore a system after an outage. For a healthcare provider it matters because prolonged loss of access to patient records disrupts care and can create privacy and compliance exposure. CTS reduced this provider's RTO for critical systems from 72 hours to 4 hours.
Are the backups protected against ransomware?
Yes. CTS implemented immutable backups stored off-site, meaning the backup copies cannot be encrypted, altered or deleted by ransomware that compromises the primary environment — so a clean recovery point is always available.