81% of Businesses in Asia Pacific and Japan Might Not be Able to Recover Lost Data and Systems
Announcement posted by EMC 08 May 2012
Singapore – May 8th, 2012
News Summary:
- 81% of organisations are not very confident that they can fully recover after a disaster, according to a new survey of 2,500 companies in Asia Pacific and Japan
- 71% surveyed have lost data and/or suffered systems downtime in the last year
- Hardware failure (60%), data corruption (49%) and loss of power (44%) were cited as the primary causes of data loss and downtime
- 42% of organisations cite loss of employee productivity as the most likely consequence of data loss and downtime
- 44% of organisations who store a backup copy offsite for disaster recovery still use tape for recovery, and 37% still use CD ROM (although 62% now use disk-based storage)
- 83% of these organisations want to replace tape all together, highlighting the need for next generation backup and recovery
Full Story:
EMC Corporation (NYSE: EMC) today announced results of ‘The Disaster Recovery
Survey 2012: Asia Pacific and Japan’, which found that 81% of companies in this
region are not very confident that they can fully recover systems or data in
the event of a disaster, and that 71% of all organisations lost data or
suffered systems downtime in the last 12 months. These findings highlight the
need for backup transformation from antiquated technologies that are not suited
for today’s data growth or availability expectations. A move to next-generation
backup and recovery solutions ensure continued business operations in the event
of a natural disaster, malicious activity or more routine and common
disruptions to IT systems. In fact, the research has shown that the causes of
systems downtime are often the commonplace disruptions to IT, such as hardware
failure or data corruption, rather than natural disasters or other major
incidents.
Commissioned by EMC and conducted by independent research company Vanson Bourne
‘The Disaster Recovery Survey 2012: Asia Pacific and Japan’ looks at the state
of backup and disaster recovery in the region to understand how well companies
are prepared for data loss and systems downtime.
Survey Findings:
Disruption happens: downtime and data loss more likely from an IT problem
than a natural disaster
The research showed that it is not the extraordinary that creates problems, and
it can take just a little to cause a lot of disruption, even something as
simple as data corruption. The three most common causes of data loss and
downtime are:
1. Hardware failure: 60%
2. Data corruption: 49%
3. Loss of power: 44%
This compares to just 20% of respondents citing natural disasters as a cause of
systems downtime or data loss, and 17% of respondents attributing systems
downtime or data loss to employee sabotage. Regardless of the
cause, 60% of organisations reviewed and changed their procedures for backup
and recovery in response to an incident.
Furthermore, 51% of businesses increased their spending on backup and recovery
after a disaster. This is against a backdrop where 31% of organisations
surveyed did not feel they were spending enough on backup and recovery.
On average, the research found that businesses across the region are spending
10.48% of their IT budgets on backup and recovery.
Economic impacts: Lost revenue attributed to systems downtime
The study identified that there are measureable business impacts from systems
downtime, with the top three cited as:
1. Loss of employee productivity: 42%
2. Loss of revenue: 40%
3. Delay in product/service development: 39%
Systems failure resulted on average in two lost working days for the businesses
in the survey. Based on an average eight hour working day, this is the
equivalent of 32,000 man-hours for a company employing approximately 2,000
employees. Additionally, each organisation lost an average of 484GB of data
during a 12 month period. Given that 1MB of data is approximately the
equivalent of 25 email documents in size, losing 484GB of data would be the
equivalent of losing 12.1 million emails.
Despite loss of revenue being rated as a major consequence of systems downtime,
the research also revealed that many companies are not doing enough to protect
essential customer data. 61% of organisations do not have a disaster recovery
plan for their CRM systems, while only 27% of organisations who do have a
disaster recovery plan for their applications would require their CRM
applications to be up and running first following systems downtime.
Furthermore, businesses in Asia Pacific and Japan are failing to take advantage
of insurance premium benefits that a comprehensive disaster recovery plan can
engender. 55% of companies across the region are obliged by either insurance
policies or regulatory requirements to have a disaster recovery plan in place.
More importantly, however, 39% of the organisations surveyed are offered
reduced premiums by their insurance provider according to the strength of their
IT systems backup/disaster recovery strategy. However, 33% of organisations do
not know if their insurance provider offers such reduced premiums – or they had
never considered it at all – highlighting a missed opportunity for many
businesses.
Outdated solutions: 44% still depend on tape and 37% still use CD Rom for
backup and recovery, but this looks set to change
For backup and disaster recovery purposes, 44% of organisations still rely on
tape. Looking at the operational cost associated with tape, organisations in
the region spend on average more than $58,821 USD including transportation,
storage, test and replacement of tape for the purposes of offsite disaster
recovery. Meanwhile, 37% of companies rely on outdated CD-ROM for backup
storage. Surprisingly, 14% of organisations have an employee take a copy of
their backup home with them for safekeeping.
However, 62% of businesses in the region are already using modern disk-based
backup and recovery solutions. This trend looks set to increase, with 83% of
tape-using organisations looking to move beyond tape. The top three reasons
cited for this planned move are:
1. Faster backups: 38%
2. Speed of data recovery and system restores: 35%
3. Durability (disk-based methods have a longer
lifespan): 28%
Preparedness for routine disruption or more significant incidents starts with a
next-generation backup approach that leverages disk with data deduplication and
network based replication technologies. The survey shows the reaction
after disruption is to spend more on backup and recovery, but the damage is
done in terms of time and money during a downtime as well as longer term damage
to customer loyalty. By raising the visibility of the most common
problems facing companies today and the associated economic consequences,
organisations can proactively review their own strategies for backup and
recovery to ensure they can meet business requirements.
Quotes
Aakash Gandhi, Chief Technology Officer, Infoplex “This research raises a number of interesting issues around backup and
recovery, not least that businesses need to take a proactive approach to
ensuring their systems can cope well before an incident occurs. From our own
experiences, it seems clear that a next-generation disk-based approach to
backup and recovery is best placed to get business-critical applications up and
running immediately, so that the economic impact such events have are
minimised. By careful planning and ensuring we make the right investments, we
are confident that we are well prepared for systems downtime, whatever the
cause.”
Shane Moore, Director Backup and Recovery System, EMC
“Asia Pacific and Japan, along with the rest of the world, is facing uncertain
economic times. Against this backdrop, it is more important than ever for
businesses to ensure that they are protected against systems downtime and data
loss or they are to withstand the damaging effects of loss of productivity and
revenue. By establishing a well thought-out and strategic approach to backup
and recovery that utilises the next-generation solutions available today,
businesses can withstand the consequences of day-to-day outages as well as more
serious incidents, while reducing the total cost of ownership of their backup
systems.”
Country Focus
Australia
Focusing on Australia, the research revealed that 70% of companies in this
country are not fully confident that they can recover systems/data following
downtime. In fact, 72% of Australian organisations have experienced data loss
or downtime in the past 12 months, with 62% of respondents to have experienced
this citing hardware failure as the leading cause. Where data loss or downtime
had been experienced, 49% of companies recorded a loss of employee productivity
as a major consequence. Additionally, while 58% of organisations in Australia
are still using tape for backup and recovery, 61% currently use disk-based
systems and 84% of tape users would like to move beyond tape for backup
purposes.
Japan
Focusing on Japan, the research revealed that 89% of companies in this country
are not fully confident that they can recover systems/data following downtime.
In fact, 50% of Japanese organisations have experienced data loss or downtime
in the past 12 months, with 55% of respondents to have experienced this citing
hardware failure as the leading cause. Where data loss or downtime had been
experienced, 38% of companies recorded a loss of employee productivity as a
major consequence. Additionally, while 58% of organizations in Japan are still
using tape for backup and recovery, 66% currently use disk-based systems and
68% of tape users would like to move beyond tape for backup
purposes.
Korea
Focusing on Korea, the research revealed that 93% of companies in this country
are not fully confident that they can recover systems/data following downtime.
In fact, 55% of Korean organisations have experienced data loss or downtime in
the past 12 months, with 55% of respondents to have experienced this citing
hardware failure as the leading cause. Where data loss or downtime had been
experienced, 42% of companies recorded a loss of employee productivity as a
major consequence. Additionally, while 38% of organisations in Korea are still
using tape for backup and recovery, 61% currently use disk-based systems and
92% of tape users would like to move beyond tape for backup
purposes.
China (Greater)
Focusing on China, the research revealed that 74% of companies in this country
are not fully confident that they can recover systems/data following downtime.
In fact, 85% of Chinese organizations have experienced data loss or downtime in
the past 12 months, with 80% of respondents to have experienced this citing
hardware failure as the leading cause. Where data loss or downtime had been
experienced, 48% of companies recorded a loss of employee productivity as a
major consequence. Additionally, while 32% of organisations in China are still
using tape for backup and recovery, 64% currently use disk-based systems and
99% of tape users would like to move beyond tape for backup purposes.
India
Focusing on India, the research revealed that 72% of companies in this country
are not fully confident that they can recover systems/data following downtime.
In fact, 80% of Indian organizations have experienced data loss or downtime in
the past 12 months, with 65% of respondents to have experienced this citing
data corruption as the leading cause. Where data loss or downtime had been
experienced, 48% of companies recorded a loss of employee productivity as a
major consequence. Additionally, while 76% of organisations in India are still
using tape for backup and recovery, 72% currently use disk-based systems and
84% of tape users would like to move beyond tape for backup
purposes.
South East Asia
Focusing on South East Asia, the research revealed that 83% of companies in
this region are not fully confident that they can recover systems/data
following downtime. In fact, 74% of South East Asian organisations have
experienced data loss or downtime in the past 12 months, with 60% of
respondents to have experienced this citing hardware failure as the leading
cause. Where data loss or downtime had been experienced, 39% of companies
recorded a loss of employee productivity as a major consequence. Additionally,
while 39% of organisations in South East Asia are still using tape for backup
and recovery, 59% currently use disk-based systems and 83% of tape users would
like to move beyond tape for backup purposes.
Survey Methodology For ‘The Disaster Recovery Survey 2012: Asia Pacific and Japan’ – commissioned
by EMC, Vanson Bourne interviewed 2,500 IT decision-makers in private and
public sector organizations in Australia, China, India, Japan, Korea,
Indonesia, Malaysia, The Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. Each organization
ranged between 250 and 3000-plus employees and represented a variety of
industries including manufacturing, retail, financial services and telecoms,
among others.
Additional Resources:
-ends-
About EMC EMC Corporation is a global leader in enabling businesses and service providers
to transform their operations and deliver IT as a service. Fundamental to this
transformation is cloud computing. Through innovative products and
services, EMC accelerates the journey to cloud computing, helping IT
departments to store, manage, protect and analyze their most valuable asset —
information — in a more agile, trusted and cost-efficient way. Additional
information about EMC can be found at www.EMC.com.
About Vanson Bourne Vanson Bourne, a specialist research-led consultancy, carries out user research
within a technology context. The company interviews senior decision makers from
a variety of functions, across a whole range of industries, in organizations
from the smallest to the largest, in markets around the globe. Vanson Bourne's
clients range from start-ups to well-known companies that need expert guidance,
delivering robust and credible research-based analysis.
