Enterprise Networking: SMBs Are Losing Confidence in IT Disaster Recovery Systems: Survey Results

Confidence Clearly Lacking

SMBs in the U.S. are still lagging behind in their backup and disaster recovery plans. Only slightly more than 50 percent feel confident in the strategies they have in place.

Downtime Costing Big Bucks

According to the data, SMBs are still losing an average of $388,426 a year due to IT downtime.

Natural or Manmade Disasters Would Be Costly for U.S. SMBs

Nearly 50 percent of U.S. SMBs still fear substantial downtime in the event of a disaster.

To Err Is All Too Human

The survey found 64 percent of U.S. respondents said that the biggest contributor to downtime is human error.

Integration Good, Point Products Not So Good

The survey results showed 76 percent of U.S. respondents said the best way to improve backup and disaster recovery would be to have an integrated system that covered physical, virtual and cloud data assets.

Separate Backups Causing Complexity

Currently, more than half (53 percent) of the respondents use separate backup solutions for their physical and virtual environments.

Qualifications Not Optimal

Only 24 percent of U.S. respondents strongly feel that their staff is qualified to execute backup and disaster recovery operations.

Confidence in DR Not Where Youd Want It to Be

As part of the survey research, 18 industrialized countries were evaluated on a scale of -5.0 to +5.0, based on levels of confidence in their backup and disaster recovery capabilities. For overall confidence in backup and disaster recovery, Germany scored highest at 2.1. Brazil had the lowest level of confidence, at -0.9. The U.S. scored slightly below average, at 0.8.

Hard-Hit Japan Keeps Chin Up

Japan had the third-highest confidence levels at a rating of 1.9 in backup and disaster recovery capabilities, despite experiencing a year of catastrophic natural disasters in 2011.

Getting on the Right Track

Fully 64 percent of Japanese respondents said they now test their backups more regularly in response to 2011's natural disasters, and 57 percent have implemented a full-scale business continuity plan.