Most organizations with disaster recovery in place feel protected. They've invested in the technology, they've checked the box, and they sleep a little better at night knowing that if something goes wrong, there's a plan.
But here's the uncomfortable truth: having DR deployed is not the same as being ready to recover.
At Gridheart, we work closely with Acronis and our partner network every day. That's why the findings from Acronis's Q1 2026 telemetry analysis caught our attention and why we think every IT decision-maker and MSP should read them carefully.
The Numbers That Should Keep You Up at Night
Acronis analyzed platform-wide DR data from Q1 2026. The results reveal a significant gap between deployment and actual readiness. Here are the takeaways:
85% of recovery servers have no RPO monitoring configured.
That means if backups silently stop running or fall behind schedule, nobody gets notified. The DR setup is there. The warning system isn't. It's the equivalent of a smoke detector with no battery.
82% of DR backup rules have no automated test schedule.
Industry best practice is monthly DR testing, at minimum. Yet only 18% of rules are configured for monthly tests, and fewer than 0.2% for weekly tests. Without regular testing, software updates, configuration changes, and infrastructure shifts can quietly break the recovery chain - and nobody finds out until it's too late.
Fewer than 0.15% of recovery servers experienced a real, sustained recovery event during the entire quarter.
Almost all failover events lasted less than an hour. Short drills or ad-hoc verifications, not actual recoveries. The vast majority of workloads have never been tested under real conditions.
The First Test Shouldn't Be the Real Thing
When a disaster actually strikes a workload that has never been tested, the recovery becomes a first-time experiment - performed under maximum pressure, with real data and real business continuity on the line.
The cost of that gamble is well documented. Organizations that test DR monthly achieve a 92% first-attempt recovery success rate. Those testing annually or less? Just 54%. That gap can mean the difference between a business that bounces back and one that doesn't.
Why are so many deployments under-configured?
The data suggests this isn't primarily about negligence. It's about defaults.When DR is set up on the Acronis platform, RPO monitoring is off by default and testing is optional. In a busy MSP environment, where onboarding a new client involves dozens of steps, these configurations are easily overlooked. The urgency to have DR (driven by sales, compliance, or fear of downtime) consistently outpaces the discipline to maintain DR.
What can MSPs do right now?
If you're an MSP managing DR for your clients, the good news is that the fixes are straightforward. The Acronis platform supports everything needed, it just needs to be turned on and monitored.
Here's where to start:
- Enable RPO monitoring for all recovery servers. A 24-hour threshold is a safe starting point for most workloads.
- Schedule monthly automated test failovers for every DR-protected client. Review the results and follow up on any failures.
- Check VPN tunnel status regularly. VPN disconnections are among the top recurring DR alert types and an inactive tunnel means recovery traffic has nowhere to go.
- Build a DR readiness dashboard that tracks RPO compliance, test success rates, and connectivity across your entire client base.
- Make DR test results part of your regular client reporting. A client who sees monthly proof that their recovery works is a client who stays.
Gridheart's take
These findings reflect a broader industry pattern, and they're not specific to any single provider or platform. But they are solvable. MSPs who proactively identify and close readiness gaps don't just reduce risk. They build a compelling, provable case for the value they deliver.
At Gridheart, we're here to help our partners make that case. If you want to review your current DR configurations, discuss readiness best practices, or explore how Acronis's tools can help you get ahead of these issues, reach out to us. This is exactly the kind of conversation we're built for.