Mastering Resilience: Essential Questions About the Data Maturity Model
Data resilience should be a top priority for all organizations. But what does true resilience look like, and how can companies objectively measure and improve it? Enter the Data Resilience Maturity Model (DRMM), a comprehensive framework designed to help businesses assess their current capabilities, benchmark themselves against industry best practices, and build a roadmap toward greater stability and security.
In this post, our principal product marketing manager, Leah Troscianecki, and Americas field CTO, Aaron Murphy, answer some of the community’s most pressing questions about the DRMM.
Q: What inspired the creation of Veeam’s Data Resilience Maturity Model (DRMM)?
Leah: We saw a need for organizations to have a structured, data-driven way to measure and improve their resilience against disruptions and outages. Unlike other maturity models that might be vendor-centric, the DRMM is based on real-world best practices and outcomes from hundreds of organizations around the world. Our goal is to help businesses build a clear path that takes them from basic backup to strategic resilience.
Q: What makes DRMM different from other maturity models?
Aaron: The DRMM is unique because it’s not just theoretical or aligned to a specific product. We took a balanced, measured, and vendor-agnostic approach, and worked with industry experts like Microsoft and Palo Alto Networks, George Westerman from MIT, and McKinsey to develop this report. The model is built on the pillars of data resilience: Backup, recovery, freedom, security, and intelligence. The whole DRMM is grounded in data and focused on what practices actually lead to better business outcomes.
Q: How mature are most organizations right now?
Leah: After surveying 500 organizations from a variety of industries, we found that about 74% are only at the Basic or Intermediate stages of maturity. This means most companies still face a significant risk of exposure and have several areas they need to improve to achieve higher resilience. Only a small fraction of the organizations we surveyed were considered Mature or Adaptive in their approach and had already built feedback loops and continuous improvement practices into their organizations.
Q: What are the key characteristics of Mature organizations according to the DRMM?
Aaron: One of the most important features of these organizations is that they’re aligned across their business and technical teams. They know which systems are the most critical and adapt their policies accordingly. It’s not just about having the right technology; it’s about fostering ongoing collaboration between IT and security teams, regularly testing recovery plans, and aligning recovery processes with your business requirements and risks.
Q: How does DRMM help organizations measure and improve their resilience?
Leah: The DRMM breaks down the concept of maturity into backup, recovery, security, people, and processes. By measuring themselves against this mode, organizations can see exactly where they excel and where there are gaps in their planning. For example, you might find out that your backups are great, but you’re lacking in reporting and automation. The DRMM provides quantified measurements to compare your organization against and delineates clear next steps for improvement.
Q: Does AI play a part in modern data resilience?
Aaron: Absolutely. AI and advanced analytics are increasingly important for monitoring, reporting, and automating threat responses. For example, AI can identify critical systems that repeatedly fail and alert teams before it has the chance to impact business metrics like recovery point objectives (RPOs). The DRMM also considers how factors like AI and automation can help organizations stay ahead of evolving threats.
Q: Why is business impact analysis (BIA) important for resilience?
Leah: BIA helps organizations understand the real-world impact of outages, prioritize their systems, and define their business goals for recovery. If you don’t know what’s at stake, you can’t set meaningful objectives or measure improvement. The DRMM emphasizes BIA as a key best practice for this reason.
Q: What if organizations think they’re more resilient than they actually are?
Aaron: That’s common. In our survey, one-third of the organizations we examined thought they were more resilient than their DRMM assessment showed. There’s often a gap between perception and reality, especially at the executive level. The DRMM helps organizations get a clearer view of their actual risks and capabilities.
Q: How does DRMM address different industries and regulatory requirements?
Leah: Highly regulated industries tend to score better with the DRMM, largely due to compliance pressures. But every industry, even those in high-growth ones, can benefit from the DRMM. This model helps tailor resilience investments based on your specific situation, rather than taking a one-size-fits-all approach.
Q: What should organizations do next?
Leah: Start by using the DRMM assessment (coming soon as a pulse-check tool), review the e-book available on veeam.com, and check out our most recent Wall Street Journal article, which featured our CEO. Bring these insights to your leadership team and use the data to drive meaningful conversations about resilience, investment, and business impact.
Conclusion
Resilience isn’t just about having backups. It’s about aligning people, processes, and technology to meet business outcomes. Use the DRMM to find your gaps, improve continuously, and be prepared for whatever comes next.
Ready to assess your organization’s resilience?
Stay tuned to Veeam’s website and social channels for access to the DRMM assessment and more resources!
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