Back
to Newsroom
National survey reveals small business data backup and storage practices leave companies at risk for "data disasters"
OAKDALE, Minn. (July 30, 2003) — Small businesses are more concerned about e-mail viruses and natural disasters than they are about homeland security issues or other widespread threats, according to a recent national survey sponsored by Imation Corp. (NYSE:IMN), a worldwide leader in removable data storage media. Key findings include:
- More than one in four (27 percent) small businesses said that they reviewed or changed their data storage backup procedures as a result of major e-mail virus attacks, such as the Melissa virus, over the last few years. And 23 percent of small companies are not confident that they could restore data lost to an e-mail virus.
- Twenty percent of small businesses changed their backup and storage procedures after a natural disaster, such as a flood or fire.
- Fifty-five percent of small businesses rate themselves as "fair" or "poor" in terms of having a documented disaster recovery plan or have no documented disaster recovery plan at all.
These are some of the findings of a national survey of 200 business
owners, office managers and IT directors of small businesses with 10
to 100 employees. The survey found that while small businesses react
to e-mail viruses, natural disasters and other potential threats to
important business data, many are leaving themselves open to "data
disasters" — from natural disasters, terrorism, vandalism,
viruses, hackers, system crashes and other crises.
Fortunately, with the adoption of a few simple techniques, small businesses can avoid the long-term revenue loss, downtime and inconveniences that can result from data loss.
Small Businesses at Risk
"Many businesses may learn the hard way about the importance of
backing up data by forgoing essential IT practices," said Dianne
McAdam, senior analyst, Data Mobility Group. "However, there is
more to backup than just backing up your data. Offsite storage of data
files in case of disaster, and regular testing of the backups to ensure
that they can be restored are crucial steps that many small businesses
overlook."
According to the survey, two-thirds of small businesses have documented data backup and storage procedures and consistently implement them, but that number doesn't tell the whole story. Sixty-seven percent of respondents stated that they consistently implement documented data backup and storage procedures, but less than 25 percent conduct a formal review and evaluation of those procedures on a quarterly basis, leaving potential vulnerabilities unchecked. In fact, the survey revealed a large number of businesses regularly put themselves at risk for data loss, lost business and even business closure. According to the survey:
- Thirty-nine percent of small businesses admit they only review their storage procedures after a problem occurs. This represents over 440,000 of the more than 1.1 million U.S.-based businesses with 10-100 employees who do not proactively protect their company's data.
- Thirty-four percent say that they are doing a "fair" or "poor" job of periodically removing important business data offsite, or are not removing backup files at all — a key protection for businesses against physical disaster. This represents more than 385,000 businesses.
- Thirty percent of small businesses say that they have no formal data backup and storage procedures or admit that they do not implement their procedures consistently. This represents nearly 340,000 businesses at risk.
- Twenty-seven percent of small companies do not have an insurance policy covering data failure. This represents nearly 306,000 small businesses at risk of data loss.
- Seventeen percent of small businesses do not consistently backup files that have changes, also known as incremental backups. This equates to more than 192,000 businesses.
"Data loss can impact a company significantly. The downtime for
a company, as a result of data loss, can drastically influence a company's
long-term success. And for smaller companies, this could mean the difference
between having a business and having to shut down," said Ron Zinke,
vice president and general manager for Imation's Data Storage Media
and Services business. "That is why it is critical for smaller
companies to take the time to prepare themselves in case disaster strikes."
What Small Businesses Can Do
"No matter what size your business is, more and more vital business
assets — customer records, financial data, inventory and more
— are saved primarily in electronic files and this can be difficult
and expensive to replace," said Bob Herman, Imation's market development
manager for small businesses. "Imation's more than 50 years of
technology and manufacturing leadership aim to make our media products
worthy of the trust customers place in them to protect valuable information."
Imation offers the following tips to help small companies prepare and protect themselves from disaster:
- Maintain a documented backup plan and make sure that more than one person knows how to execute it. Backup data every day to removable data storage media. Popular media formats include optical discs (CD-R/RW, DVD-R/RW) and tape formats based on SLR or Travan™ Technology. Execute a full backup at least once a week and test the ability to restore the data at least quarterly.
- Store media in a cool, dry place and in a secure location, far away from your computer. Store at least one full backup copy offsite.
- Guard computer systems from viruses and other preventable data destroyers. Install a virus protection program and configure it to update regularly.
- Business insurance coverage is also important to business continuity to ensure that a company can get up and running again in case of a disaster.
About the Imation Small Business Survey
A report on the survey's findings, including the survey questions and
top line results, can be found at http://www.imation.com/smallbusinessbackupsurvey.
Imation Corp. sponsored a survey of 201 business owners, office managers and IT directors in the continental United States. Telephone interviews were conducted in March and April of 2003. The sample size provides a margin of error due to sampling of no more than plus-or-minus seven percentage points at the 95 percent confidence level.
Respondents were screened based on three criteria: the total number of people employed by the business needed to be between 10 and 100, with equal representation from the different sized companies; the respondent must have a role in the decision making process and must be somewhat familiar with the company's data backup and storage processes. 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.
¾ As of June 30, 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 by calling 1.888.466.3456.
Imation, the Imation logo and Travan are trademarks of Imation Corp. All other trademarks are property of their respective owners.