ERP Disaster Recovery Planning for Manufacturers

Defining RPO and RTO for Manufacturing

Recovery Point Objective (RPO) defines how much data you can afford to lose. Recovery Time Objective (RTO) defines how long you can operate without ERP. For most manufacturers, RPO should be near-zero for transactional data (no orders lost) and RTO should be under 4 hours for critical operations.

These targets drive your DR architecture decisions—synchronous replication for zero RPO, automated failover for low RTO, and prioritized recovery for non-critical systems.

• Critical systems (ERP core, financials, production): RPO <15 minutes, RTO <4 hours target
• Important systems (reporting, analytics, document management): RPO <1 hour, RTO <8 hours
• Non-critical systems (dev/test environments, training): RPO <24 hours, RTO <24 hours
• Cloud ERP SLAs: Verify Infor's commitments—multi-tenant SLAs may not meet your specific targets

DR Strategy for Hybrid Environments

Most manufacturers operate in hybrid environments with cloud ERP, on-premise integrations, and local shop floor systems. DR planning must cover all layers. Cloud ERP recovery depends on the vendor's infrastructure.

On-premise integration servers need their own DR strategy. Shop floor systems (SCADA, MES, barcode scanning) that feed ERP need local resilience. The weakest link determines your actual recovery capability.

• Verify cloud ERP vendor DR capabilities and test actual failover rather than relying on SLA documents
• Maintain on-premise integration server backups with documented recovery procedures tested quarterly
• Implement local caching on shop floor systems to buffer data during ERP outages and sync when restored
• Document manual business continuity procedures for critical processes during extended ERP outages

AI-Assisted DR Management

Netray's AI agents continuously validate DR readiness by monitoring backup health, testing integration recovery points, and simulating failover scenarios. The agents detect configuration drift between production and DR environments, ensuring that your disaster recovery capability matches your current production environment at all times.