Data loss can be very costly not only in dollars and in down time, but also in productivity
“While many enterprises, about 78 percent, reportedly have data backup systems, very few
have a plan to access that data if and when a disaster occurs. And, on top of that, 90 percent of companies
that are backing up are using tape - a backup technology that has proven inadequate for the rapid-fire, real-time
business data scenario."
These startling statistics were reported in a June survey conducted by SunGard Availability Systems. The
survey, which polled 200 U.S. business with $5 million or more in annual revenue in a broad range of industries,
was conducted by New York research firm David Michaelson and Company, LLC, from April 16 to May 2, 2002.
93% of companies that lost their data center for 10 days or longer due to a disaster filed
for bankruptcy within one year of the disaster. 50% of business that found themselves without data management
for this same time period filed for bankruptcy immediately. (Source: National Archives & Records Administration
in Washington)
File corruption and data loss are becoming much more common, although loss of productivity
continues to be the major cost associated with a virus disaster (Source: 7th Annual ICSA Lab's Virus Prevalence
Study, March 2002.)
The average company spends between $100,000 and $1,000,000 in total ramifications per year for
desktop-oriented disasters (both hard and soft costs.) (Source: 7th Annual ICSA Lab's Virus Prevalence
Study, March 2002.)
In addition to being more prevalent, computer
viruses were more costly, more destructive, and
caused more real damage to data and systems than in the past. (Source: 7th Annual ICSA Lab's Virus Prevalence
Study, March 2002.)
Of those companies participating in the 2001 Cost of Downtime Survey: 46% said each hour
of downtime would cost their companies up to $50K, 28% said each hour would cost between $51K and $250K,
18% said each hour would cost between $251K and $1 million, and 8%37; said it would cost their companies
more than $1 million per hour. (Source: 2001 Cost of Downtime Survey Results, 2001.)
When asked how many hours could elapse before the survival of the company is at risk;
40% said 72 hours, 21% said 48 hours, 15% said 24 hours, 8% said 8 hours, 9% said 4 hours,
3% said 1 hour, and 4% said with in the hour. (Source: 2001 Cost of Downtime Survey Results, 2001.)
Disasters that result in data loss can be caused by a variety of events including acts of nature, vandalism,
terrorism, hackers, viruses, and other malware, disgruntled employees, user error -- the list goes on. Many
businesses are not prepared to operate under any such circumstances without sustaining financial damages. Few
businesses have designed data continuity plans and tested these plans. What about your business? Take a few
minutes to answer the questions in the table below to estimate your risk.
| What kind of data is stored on your computer? |
| Occasional letters and reports |
+10 |
| Client Records |
+50 |
| Accounting |
+100 |
| Most critical business data |
+200 |
| If all the data on your computer was lost, and all backup tapes destroyed,
how long would it take one person to re-enter it manually? |
| 1 Week |
+10 |
| 4 Weeks |
+30 |
| 6 Months |
+50 |
| 1 Year |
+70 |
| Over 1 Year |
+100 |
| Do you keep paper records which could be used as a source
to re-enter lost computer data? |
| Yes |
-100 |
| No |
+100 |
| How often do you perform a full backup? |
| Daily |
-50 |
| Weekly |
0 |
| Monthly |
+50 |
| Yearly |
+100 |
| How is the backup done? |
| Automatically |
-50 |
| Manually, by a skilled person |
+10 |
| Other |
+50 |
| How long do you keep copies of your old data? |
| We use the same tapes every day |
+100 |
| One Week |
+50 |
| One Month |
+30 |
| One Year |
-50 |
| How often are backup tapes verified? |
| Every time a backup is done |
-50 |
| Periodically |
+50 |
| Never |
+100 |
| How often do you re-evaluate your backup strategy? |
| Weekly |
-50 |
| Monthly |
-10 |
| Yearly |
+50 |
| Never |
+100 |
| Where are your backup tapes stored? |
| Off-site in a secure data storage vault |
-50 |
| At home |
-10 |
| In a safe at the office |
+50 |
| Next to the computer |
+100 |
| We don't do backups |
+500 |
| Who has access to your computers? (all that apply) |
| Trusted, computer skilled employees |
-50 |
| People with no computer training |
+30 |
| Unskilled employees |
+50 |
| Employees who will soon quit |
+100 |
| Do you or any of your employees: (all that apply) |
| Install non-company software |
+30 |
| Borrow software from friends |
+50 |
| Access your computer by modem |
+40 |
| How many computers do you have? |
| 1 |
+0 |
| 2-10 |
+70 |
| 11-20 |
+100 |
| Over 20 |
+200 |
| Do you have a network? |
| Yes |
+200 |
| No |
+0 |
If your score was:
Less than 0 - Very little risk. You either don't have very much critical data on your computer,
or your backup plan is probably adequate. Consider using a Remote Backup Service to supplement your backups.
0 to 100 - Slight risk. If you experience a non-catastrophic loss of data, you will probably be
able to recover from it. Generally, you are doing a good job with your backup plan, but should consider
improving. A Remote Backup Service can help you protect critical files.
101 to 200 - Moderate risk. A loss of data from your hard drive may not be recoverable. Your
backup plan is not adequate and you are at risk of losing data critical to the operation of your business.
201 to 500 - High risk. Any major data loss would be catastrophic, and would probably not be recoverable.
Your business is at risk of failure if you lose data.
Over 500 - Extreme high risk. Your backup plan is not protecting your data. You could experience an
unrecoverable catastrophic data loss at any time which could cause your business to fail.