Businesses are increasingly using cloud computing as a
key component of their data protection plans, according to a survey by CA
Technologies.
42 percent say that within the next year, cloud will play
an important part of their disaster recovery and data protection
strategies. The results show that as the adoption of cloud becomes more
widespread, companies are beginning to appreciate that cloud resources offer a
solution for business continuity.
Of the 1,086 organizations surveyed across eight
countries in APAC, nearly all (96 percent) have seen their data protection
budgets remain flat or increase from 2010 to 2011, with one third (34 percent)
enjoying increased investment.
The research explored where these budgets will be
directed over the coming year, and the findings again underscored the
importance of cloud computing.
More than half of companies (57 percent) will focus
investment on managing a hybrid cloud environment, where private clouds are
supplemented with access to resources in public clouds.
One third (33 percent) plan to invest in using public
cloud as a backup solution and 31% focus on better protection of their private
cloud.
The research we’ve released demonstrates that increasing
numbers of companies plan to use cloud as part of their business continuity
strategy,” said Chris Ross, vice president EMEA and
Asia-Pacific, CA Technologies Data Management CSU.
We’re seeing lots of businesses use the cloud for
offsite back-up and disaster recovery purposes and the survey indicates that
many are now looking to a more sophisticated hybrid cloud model too. This
highlights the need for a solution that allows them to evolve their data
protection strategy at their own pace whether it be new on-premise
technology, using cloud as backup medium or moving to a more complex hybrid
cloud model,” added Ross.
Despite the integration of cloud and the positive trend
in data protection spending, companies are still vulnerable – nearly all (95
percent) of the surveyed companies admitted they have experienced application
and data loss incidents in the last year.
The most common cause was IT systems failures such as
network, storage, hardware or software failures which affected almost three quarters
(74 percent) of the surveyed organizations.
This high level of data loss is reflected by the
companies’ apparent lack of readiness for these types of incidents. Only
a quarter (27 percent) is confident enough to say they have a full and comprehensive
disaster recovery plan.
Furthermore, while a high 90 percent run full testing of
their disaster recovery plans at least once a year, a significant 38 percent
don’t achieve their recovery time and recovery point objectives in these tests.
When asked about the barriers to improving their data
protection and disaster recovery operations, 45 percent pointed to lack of
budget and 42 percent to inadequate buy-in from senior management.
By Telecomlead.com Team
