Confidence levels of 6000 SMBs worldwide increase 14%
according to the Acronis Global Disaster Recovery Index 2012; yet
system downtime costing each firm on average USD$366,363 a
year
Woburn, MA, 1 February 2012 - Despite 2011 being one of
the most tumultuous years on record, businesses around the world
have grown in confidence about their ability to back up and then
recover data and IT systems following a disaster.
According to the 2012 Acronis Global Disaster
Recovery Index, businesses are on average 14% more confident in
their backup and disaster recovery capabilities than they were
compared to the previous year's result in the Index. Key to this
rise is the perceived improvements in having the right resources
(tools / environment) and the right technologies for the job.
Confidence in these two criteria alone has more than doubled in the
past 12 months.
Underlying this increase in confidence is the fact that 66% of
businesses are checking their backup and disaster recovery plans
more regularly, possibly as a consequence of the catastrophic
natural disasters which hit most regions during 2011, including
destructive flooding in Australia, Brazil and Thailand, deadly
earthquakes in New Zealand and Türkiye, storms costing billions in
damages across the United States and the devastating tsunami in
Japan from which some businesses are still yet to fully
recover.
Despite an overall improvement in confidence, other more
concerning findings from the survey of almost 6,000 small and
medium-sized businesses (SMB) in 18 countries include:
- Flat budgets: businesses are spending the same on backup and DR year on year (10% of IT spend).
- Almost half (47%) now feel that business executives are not supportive of their backup and disaster recovery operations.
- Data growth continues unabated: a typical SMB creates almost 40TB of fresh data each year.
- To err is human: 60% of those surveyed blame human error as the most common cause of system downtime.
- The cost of failure: average system downtime lasts 2.2 days costing each business USD$366,363 each year in lost productivity.
Managing hybrid physical, virtual and cloud environments
presents the biggest challenge
The vast majority (70%) of the IT managers surveyed agree that, for the second year running, their greatest challenge in a hybrid environment is moving data between physical, virtual and cloud environments. Yet the survey found that most businesses are still failing to consolidate their backup and disaster recovery tools to address this challenge. Most rely on multiple tools, with a third using three or more different solutions to protect their data. Over half (53%) use separate solutions for their physical and virtual environments.
The vast majority (70%) of the IT managers surveyed agree that, for the second year running, their greatest challenge in a hybrid environment is moving data between physical, virtual and cloud environments. Yet the survey found that most businesses are still failing to consolidate their backup and disaster recovery tools to address this challenge. Most rely on multiple tools, with a third using three or more different solutions to protect their data. Over half (53%) use separate solutions for their physical and virtual environments.
The Acronis Global Disaster Recovery Index Ranking
To create the Index, each country surveyed was ranked based on its average responses from 11 questions about their confidence in backup and disaster recovery readiness, capabilities and practices. Questions covered technology, resources, procedures and executive buy-in.
To create the Index, each country surveyed was ranked based on its average responses from 11 questions about their confidence in backup and disaster recovery readiness, capabilities and practices. Questions covered technology, resources, procedures and executive buy-in.
Commenting on the findings, Izzy Azeri, Senior Vice President
and General Manager, Americas from Acronis said: "The survey
findings suggest that the natural disasters of 2011 have been a
catalyst for positive change when it comes to most businesses
testing their backup and disaster recovery operations. However,
for all the positives in the survey, too many strategic-level
negatives, such as failure to get executive buy-in and the use of
multiple, disjointed solutions, linger when it comes to keeping the
business-critical digital assets of a business secure, protected
and immediately available, particularly in a hybrid world."
The survey was conducted by the Ponemon Institute across 18
countries in September and October 2011. Over 6,000 IT
practitioners were surveyed in small- to mid-market organizations
with no more than 1,000 seats. Details of how the index was
calculated and where each country appears can be found here:
This year an additional five countries were added to the report,
over those surveyed in 2010. Comparisons in this press release are
made year on year with the 13 original countries.
About Acronis:
Acronis is a leader in AI-native cyber protection, unifying data protection, cybersecurity, IT operations and hybrid infrastructure to deliver business continuity, security and compliance with less cost and complexity. More than 21,000 service providers trust Acronis to protect over 750,000 businesses in 150 countries. Acronis is headquartered in Schaffhausen, Switzerland. For more information, visit www.acronis.com.