Recovering lost data stressful for it managers

London, UK, May 18, 2010 - Almost half of SMB IT managers surveyed across Europe fear the prospect of recovering data after a virus attack or hard drive failure classing it as either stressful or very stressful according to a recent survey commissioned by Acronis®. This is largely due to the poor backup and recovery practices existing in many of today's organisations and the potential impact which data loss has on a company's productivity and revenue, according to the findings in this survey.

The survey of SMBs carried out by research house Vanson Bourne on behalf of Acronis in October 2009 investigated the stress levels which IT mangers are under when it comes to disaster recovery processes. The survey found one of the main sources of stress is ensuring that the CEO's data is protected. 29% of respondents class the stress of losing their CEO's data as being equivalent to realising that they have forgotten their passport when they arrive at an airport to go on holiday. Equally, another 29% categorized it as being as stressful as being late for a job interview.

When asked who they feel the most pressure from to recover data, 59% feel the strain from their CEO or boss, while a quarter of IT managers actually feel the most pressure from themselves. The research demonstrates that although IT managers realise how vital backup and recovery is, they often don't have the correct processes in place to be confident in their disaster recovery procedures, resulting in high stress levels in many organisations.

The research found that the majority (72%) of organisations are still relying on an end of day backup strategy, with a shocking 1 in 10 businesses backing up their data at most once a week. Only the minority are backing up on an hourly basis. Relying on such strategies means that many businesses risk losing days' worth of work if their systems go down, leading to lost productivity and lost revenue.

"It's clear from this research that DR is vital to any organisation and it's surprising that with DR technology being so mature and the implications of data loss being so well reported that there is still evidence of bad backup and recovery processes in many organisations today," explains David Blackman, General Manager of Northern Europe, Acronis. "As with all sources of stress, prevention is better than cure. IT managers should seek to examine their DR strategies to stop it impacting on, not only their company's wellbeing, but their own health."

To download a complementary SMB Guide to Backup and Recovery, please visit https://www.acronis.co.uk/resource/tech-talk/whitepapers/. The survey was conducted by Acronis and research house Vanson Bourne. The sample consisted of 600 SMB and mid-market organisations (250-1,000 employees) across UK, Germany and France. Respondents were those within the organisation responsible for IT.

Acronis is a leading provider of onsite and offsite backup, disaster recovery and security solutions. Its patented disk imaging and management technology enables corporations and individuals to protect digital assets in physical and virtual environments. With Acronis' backup, recovery, server consolidation and virtualization migration software, users protect their digital information, maintain business continuity and reduce downtime. Acronis software is sold in more than 180 countries and available in 13 languages. For additional information, please visit www.acronis.co.uk Follow Acronis on Twitter: http://twitter.com/acronis.