Public Sector Data Most at Risk From Disasters Reveals Acronis Survey

March 29, 2012 - PRLog -- LONDON, UK, 29 March 2012 – According to the Acronis Global Disaster Recovery (DR) Index 2012 vertical findings, the public sector is the industry with the least infrastructure for backup and disaster recovery, with most respondents citing a lack of budget and resources as the key challenges. A third (33%) do not spend any budget at all on backup and disaster recovery, and 41% say they lack skilled IT personnel to manage all of their systems.

The Acronis Index surveyed almost 6,000 small and medium-sized businesses (SMB) in 18 countries, which showed that two thirds (65%) of public sector organisations globally would suffer substantial downtime in the event of a disaster.

The UK findings show that nearly two thirds (61%) say their disaster recovery is not well managed, with over half (59%) saying that their business executives are not supportive of their backup and disaster recovery operations. When asked if they had made protecting their data more of a priority because of the natural disasters in 2011, only one in four (26%) had escalated the issues they face to their managers.

The survey findings also show that the public sector is relatively slow, compared to other industries, to adopt virtualisation. A third of all UK (33%) public sector organisations have not adopted virtualisation at all. Similarly, the public sector is the least likely to protect its virtual servers, with 71% claiming they either do not back up or do not know if they back up their virtual servers as often as their physical ones.

The cloud is, however, proving a more popular alternative for the public sector, with 86% predicting they will be using the cloud in the next 12 months and half (56%) agreeing that the cloud enables lower operation costs. However, a shocking 36% have no offsite backup strategy at all, so in the case of an on-site disaster they could not recover.

The vast majority (71%) of UK public sector IT managers surveyed believe their greatest challenge in a hybrid environment is moving data between physical, virtual and cloud environments. Yet the survey found that most businesses are still failing to consolidate their backup and disaster recovery tools to address this challenge. Most rely on multiple tools, with just over a third (36%) using three or more different solutions to protect their data. Over half (55%) use separate solutions for their physical and virtual environments.

Commenting on the findings, David Blackman, General Manager Northern Europe and MEA, Acronis said: “Public sector budget cuts globally are hitting every department hard, but it could be a positive catalyst for change. By embracing new technologies, such as virtualisation and cloud, and by consolidating the number of backup product they have, many public sector organisations could improve their disaster recovery processes and save money.”


Notes to the editor:

The survey was conducted by the Ponemon Institute across 18 countries in September and October 2011. Over 6,000 IT practitioners were surveyed in small- to mid-market organisations with no more than 1,000 seats. Details of how the index was calculated and where each country appears can be found here:

•   Full research report
•   Infographic report

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About Acronis
Acronis is a leading provider of easy-to-use disaster recovery and data protection solutions for physical, virtual and cloud environments. Its patented disk imaging technology enables corporations, SMBs and consumers to protect their digital assets. With Acronis' disaster recovery, deployment and migration software, users protect their digital information, maintain business continuity and reduce downtime. Acronis software is sold in more than 90 countries and available in up to 14 languages. For additional information, please visit www.acronis.co.uk. Follow Acronis on Twitter: http://twitter.com/acronis.  



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