Organisations still struggle with data loss

A full copy of the survey report is available at: http://www.unitrends.com/cloud_surveyresults_a

Survey results show that many organisations are not following baseline best practices for data protection and DR. At the opposite end of the spectrum, leaders in DR are increasingly using the cloud to play a critical role in business continuity. Key survey findings include:

Data growth continues to be exponential, however data loss continues at an unacceptably high rate. Twenty seven percent of respondents say they need to protect more than 100 TB of data, more than double the figure compared to 2016. However, 30 percent of respondents report losing at least some of their data - a figure that has remained consistent since 2016. Data loss clearly continues to be a problem for the enterprise.

More organisations conduct regular DR testing and have a secondary recovery site. Compared to 2016, 46 percent more companies today say they conduct DR testing every month. A full 75 percent of IT professionals conduct DR testing at least annually (64 percent in 2016). Additionally, the survey shows a 16 percent drop in the number of organisations who lack a secondary recovery site to store data copies or host recovery operations, compared to 2016. However, there is a 24 percent increase in companies that use their own site or a co-location facility as their secondary DR site.

Cloud continues to see acceptance, as its role in backup and data protection grows. The majority of survey respondents trust the cloud enough to use it for data protection and business continuity. Twenty two percent more companies use the cloud for backup and disaster recovery compared to 2016 - considerable growth in just two years' time. Indeed, cloud is replacing legacy media options to get backup data offsite, as more report storing backups in the cloud (36 percent) than using physical media (disk to tape, removable, tape) combined (31 percent).

Cloud acceptance grows with resistance now settling around cost - not technical concerns. Among respondents who do not currently use the cloud, more say they plan to do so much sooner than compared to 2016 (when 55 percent said they had no plans). Cost is the most frequently cited reason today for non-adoption, compared to functional concerns in previous years.                    

However mid-sized companies lag in cloud adoption, and cloud usage varies greatly by industry. Cloud adoption rates are not equal across companies of different sizes, as findings show that mid-sized corporate cloud adoption is 12 to 18 percent lower compared to smaller and larger organisations, respectively. Not surprisingly, technology companies lead cloud adoption with 68 percent of respondents saying they use the cloud for business continuity and disaster recovery (BCDR) purposes.                      

"Findings from this year's Unitrends Cloud and Disaster Recovery Survey unearthed some interesting trends, as we were able to analyse survey data across three consecutive years," said Joe Noonan, vice president of product management and marketing, Unitrends. "Remarkably, 30 percent of organisations say they still experience data loss a figure that has surprisingly remained consistent since 2016. It's clear from this data that there's still much work to be done to help organisations successfully implement and leverage backup and disaster recovery solutions and best practices. As a leader in the BCDR space, it's our responsibility to educate and empower enterprises with the knowledge and technologies they need to protect and recover their data."