National Survey Reveals One in Three Companies Operate Without a Formal Disaster Recovery Strategy

Survey also finds that two in three companies feel their data backup and disaster recovery plans have significant vulnerabilities

OAKDALE, Minn. (August 19, 2003) — Nearly one in three companies (30 percent) are operating today without a formal disaster recovery (DR) strategy in place, leaving them vulnerable to potential data loss as a result of natural disasters, viruses, employee sabotage and terrorist threats. And, 64% of companies admit that their company’s data backup and disaster recovery plans have significant vulnerabilities. These are some of the findings of a recent national survey, sponsored by Imation Corp (NYSE:IMN).

The survey polled 202 IT directors and network storage managers on their perception of data backup, storage technologies and disaster recovery practices. According to the survey:

• Eighty-seven percent of companies do have a formal data backup and storage plan implemented. However, 32 percent of those companies reported not testing their plans on a regular basis.
• In addition, 64 percent of the companies surveyed said they do not conduct external audits of their data storage and backup systems on a regular basis.
  

Events of the last few years have significantly increased the emphasis companies are now placing on data backup and disaster recovery. The survey uncovered that 36 percent of the companies changed their disaster recovery practices and backup habits as a result of the events of 9/11. Some of the implemented changes include:

• Fifty-six percent implemented regular testing procedures for the first time.
• Forty-three percent moved data off-site.
• Forty-two percent established regular update procedures.
• Thirty-nine percent increased budgets for backup.
• Twenty-six percent implemented a formal disaster recovery plan for the first time.

"These findings correlate with what ESG is seeing in the market. Companies are paying increased attention to backup—and more importantly—restore issues by implementing more vigorous disaster recovery and business continuity plans. Yet, many remain at risk due to unsafe and unreliable practices and procedures," said Steve Kenniston, technology analyst, Enterprise Storage Group. "A company can go out and buy the best storage equipment on the market; however, if they don’t implement proper backup and DR practices, or establish regular testing and update procedures, they are leaving themselves vulnerable to significant data loss."

When it comes to protecting a company's data, it should also be noted that a data backup plan is not a disaster recovery plan. Often, the disaster recovery plan is integrated into the data backup plan; however, a disaster recovery plan specifically addresses how to restore data after a catastrophic event such as a fire, hurricane or tornado has occurred. Here are a few examples of how the two plans differ:

A Data Backup Plan

1. Encompasses issues such as the frequency of backups, what to backup and how long to keep backed-up data.
2. Includes an onsite and offsite storage strategy.

A Disaster Recovery Plan

1. Involves the continuity of the business and the steps involved to fully restore its operational capabilities.
2. Takes into consideration the length of time a company can afford to be down, and designs a recovery plan to match that determination. The most robust plan would allow for near instantaneous recall, which would encompass setting up a secondary data center complete with servers, networking capabilities and tape and disk storage.

Tape Technology is Key Component to Successful DR & Data Retention Plans
Interestingly, all companies polled in the survey agree that the amount and type of data they are backing up is increasing significantly, and most said that removable data storage media, such as tape, plays an important role in their data backup and storage systems. According to the findings:

• Seventy-nine percent of the companies consider tape a crucial component of their strategy for long-term data retention and archiving.
• Eighty-five percent view tape as an essential technology for disaster recovery.
  And, 83 percent cite that tape serves an important role in supporting more robust record retention requirements in today’s increased regulatory environment.

"Recent government-mandated regulations such as Sarbanes-Oxley and HIPAA, as well as past events such as the September 11 attacks and destruction of data centers, are driving data retention and protection requirements today. Because of this, companies are more attentive to data backup and disaster recovery efforts, and recognize that a concerted and proactive approach is required to prepare and to guard against data loss," said Jim Ellis, director of business strategy, Imation Data Storage and Information Management. "Tape’s combination of low cost-per-gigabyte and removability makes it an ideal technology to support large-scale backup architectures and guard against data loss or corruption."

For Most Companies it's Tape AND Disk
The results of the survey reveal that when it comes to backup, it is not an "either/or" decision for the majority of companies. In fact, 61 percent of the respondents view tape and disk as complementary rather than competing technologies in a well-designed data backup and storage system.

"Tape is a proven technology that will continue to be the ideal solution for multiple point-in-time copies, off-site rotation, and long-term archival and disaster recovery," said Robert C. Abraham, analyst, Freeman Reports. "Disk storage is ideal for applications such as online, snapshots or mirrored copies of data that cannot tolerate an extended downtime period. Thus, both disk and tape each have their place. As the survey confirms, the majority of end-users view disk-based systems as complementary to tape technologies, not replacements for tape."

About the Imation Data Protection Survey
A report on the survey’s findings, including the questions and top line results, can be found at http://www.imation.com/dataprotectionsurvey.

Imation Corp. sponsored an online survey of 202 network storage managers and IT directors in the United States. The survey was conducted in March and April of 2003. Survey respondents were selected from the Technology Advisory Board®, a worldwide Internet panel of more than 25,000 scientists, engineers, information systems professionals, and information technology executives. This database allows targeting of respondents with the job responsibilities required by this specific project.

Respondents were screened based on three criteria: direct responsibility for network or data center tape storage and administration; or manage a team responsible for network or data center tape storage administration; or holds a senior management position (CIO, VP, director, or manager). The respondents included in the survey were a part of a wide range of industries.

About Imation
Imation Corp. is a leading developer, manufacturer and supplier of magnetic and optical removable data storage media. With one of the broadest product lines in the industry—spanning from a few megabytes to hundreds of gigabytes of capacity in each piece of media, Imation serves customers in more than 60 countries, in both business and consumer markets. From large data centers to distributed networks, Imation's tape cartridges are used in data processing, security, business continuity, backup and archiving applications. Customer needs for reliability, convenience and portability to store and manage business data, photos, video, images and music on professional and home desktops and increasingly in consumer electronics devices drive demand for Imation's optical and diskette products. With more than 300 technology scientists and more than 300 data storage patents in the U.S. alone, Imation continues to pioneer today's proven magnetic and optical media technologies.

As of June 30th, 2003, Imation employed approximately 2,800 people worldwide. Revenues from outside the U.S. contribute approximately 53 percent of total sales.

Additional information about Imation is available on the company's website at www.imation.com, or by calling 1.888.466.3456.

Imation and the Imation logo are trademarks of Imation Corp. All other trademarks are property of their respective owners.