Businesses are unable to property protect and backup their data because of budgetary constraints according to a new survey of over 400 leading UK businesses.
Although most businesses understand that proper preparation for disaster to ensure continuity is important, economic pressures are forcing management teams to tighten the purse strings when it comes to data security and storage.
40 per cent of respondents to the survey revealed that despite a perpetually increasing demand for more storage and backup facilities, there was not enough money to invest in improving their current systems, so they were being asked to perform the impossible.
All of the firms questioned had 1000 employees or more and 57 per cent said that their data storage requirements were increasing by a fifth with each passing year.
This growth is occurring in the context of budgets which are not increasing, or in the worst cases reducing from previous levels, for 75 per cent of businesses.
Jon Mills, who supervised the survey which was carried out by Sepaton, said that the constant increase in data storage requirements was afflicting virtually every business, regardless as to size. Mr Mills said that in a relatively short time some firms would have to face storage requirements doubling annually.
41 per cent of respondents said that there was a worrying deficit in funding for data protection, which was leading to a poorer quality of service and a lack of customer confidence.
The survey also revealed that disaster recovery was a problematic issue for many, with 46 per cent indicating that existing targets in this area were being missed. However, many are putting their faith in cloud platforms, or are intending to consider them in the near future, as a way of cutting the cost of data protection and disaster recovery.
The survey has clearly revealed that a shortage of storage space for sensitive data is becoming a real issue for many large businesses in the UK and around the world. With budgets under pressure, the numbers looking to outsource storage will surely increase.
