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SMBs Not Prepared For Disasters, Don’t Act Until It’s Too Late
Published Jan 24, 2011
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Symantec Corp has announced the findings of its 2011 SMB Disaster Preparedness Survey, which measured the attitudes and practices of small and mid sized businesses (SMBs) and their customers toward disaster preparedness. The survey findings show that though SMBs are at risk, they are still not making disaster preparedness a priority until they experience a disaster or data loss.
The data also reveals that the cost of not being prepared is high, putting an SMB at risk of going out of business. According to the survey, downtime not only costs SMBs several thousands of dollars, it also causes their customers to leave.
According to the research findings, SMBs still haven’t recognized the tremendous impact a disaster can have on their businesses. Despite warnings, it seems like many still think it can’t happen to them, said Saurabh Arora, Manager Small and Medium Business for MENA, Symantec. “Disasters happen and SMBs cannot afford to risk losing their information or more importantly their customers’ critical information. Simple planning can enable SMBs to protect their information in the event of a disaster, which in turn will help them build trust with their customers.
Despite Warnings, SMBs Still Not Prepared
The findings show that many SMBs do not understand the importance of disaster preparedness. Half of the respondents do not have a plan in place. Forty-one percent said that it never occurred to them to put together a plan and 40 percent stated that disaster preparedness is not a priority for them.
This lack of preparation is surprising given how many SMBs are at risk. Sixty-five percent of respondents live in regions susceptible to natural disasters. In the past 12 months, the typical SMB experienced 6 computer outages, with the leading causes being cyberattacks, power outages or natural disasters.
The survey revealed that the information that drives most small and mid sized businesses is simply not protected. Less than half of SMBs back up their data weekly or more frequently and only 23 percent back up daily. Respondents also reported that a disaster would cause information loss. In fact, forty four percent of SMBs said they would lose at least 40 percent of their data in the event of a disaster.
SMBs Don’t Act Until After a Disaster , according to the survey findings, half of the SMBs that have implemented disaster preparedness plans did so after experiencing an outage and/or data loss. Fifty two percent put together their plans within the last six months. However, only 28 percent have actually tested their recovery plans, which is a critical component of actually being prepared for a potential disaster.
Lack of Preparedness Impacts the Business ,disasters can have a significant financial impact on SMBs. The median cost of downtime for an SMB is $12,500 per day. Outages cause customers to leave 54 percent of SMB customer respondents reported they have switched SMB vendors due to unreliable computing systems, a 12 percent increase compared with last year’s survey.
This downtime can also put them out of business. Also, 44 percent of SMB customers surveyed stated that their SMB vendors have temporarily shut down due to a disaster.
Customers of SMBs also reported considerable effects to their own businesses. When SMBs experience downtime, it costs their customers an average of $10,000 per day. In addition to direct financial costs, 29 percent of the customers surveyed lost some or a lot of important data as a result of disasters impacting their SMB vendors.
Symantec’s SMB Disaster Preparedness Survey :
Symantec’s SMB Disaster Preparedness Survey is the result of research conducted in October and November 2010 by Applied Research, which surveyed IT professionals responsible for computers, networks and technology resources at small and mid sized businesses. The report was designed to gauge the impact and stage of disaster recovery preparedness, perceptions and practices of small and mid sized businesses. The study included more than 1,840 respondents from 23 countries in North America, EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa), Asia Pacific and Latin America.
About Symantec :
Symantec is a global leader in providing security, storage and systems management solutions to help consumers and organizations secure and manage their information driven world. Our software and services protect against more risks at more points, more completely and efficiently, enabling confidence wherever.
For more information:
Anina Steele
Symantec Corp.
T: 011 797 6600
E: anina_steele@symantec.com
Ibrahim Asran
The Portsmouth Group
T: +971 4 369 3575
E: Ibrahim.asran@theportsmouthgroup.com
Posted by
VMD - [Virtual Marketing Department]
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