Installations evaluating remote backup and recovery services must establish a robust process for looking at the impact of inserting site de-duplication technologies. This should be done on an application-by-application level (or by major application groupings). Evaluation criteria should include recovery point objectives (RPO) and recovery time objectives (RTO), as well as cost and risk. The hard question “what happens when the de-duplication technology fails” must be asked, answered and planned for from a contingency perspective. This process should include strong input from corporate risk officers and the line of business.