Acronis have just released the findings from their Global Disaster Recovery (DR) Index 2012.

The Acronis Global DR Index is an annual barometer that provides a country-level ranking of backup and DR confidence levels and capabilities of businesses around the world. The aim of the Index is to give all businesses a clearer understanding of how their confidence and capabilities compare to those of their peers in other countries.

The Index is based on a study commissioned by Acronis and conducted by the Ponemon Institute, an international research firm and respected think-tank on data protection trends.  The survey is based on responses of almost 6,000 IT practitioners (double last year’s 3,000 and the largest survey in the industry).

Here are some of the key findings

• Almost a third (32%) of SMBs are still concerned that their backup and disaster recovery operations will fail in the wake of a serious incident, and a similar number (34%) feel they would suffer substantial downtime as a result.
• Backup procedures and policies appear much less well documented and confidence in this area during 2011 dropped by 44%.
• Similarly, businesses are 16% less confident about having enough controls and procedures in place.
• Businesses haven’t addressed a shortfall in qualified staff in 2010. 2011 saw an 8% decrease in confidence that staff are sufficiently qualified to handle a disaster or major outage, potentially due to tough economic times.

Key Global Finding 1:
SMB adoption of virtualisation will outpace that of the enterprise in 2012

Key Global Finding 2:
Virtual data at greater risk than physical data

Key Global Finding 3:
Cloud gains momentum but still not delivering on the hype

Key Global Finding 4:
Offsite backup strategy still lacking

Key Global Finding 5:
Human error is the biggest cause of system downtime which costs most businesses USD $366,363 a year

Key Global Finding 6:
The 'pure play' dilemma. Businesses still fail to consolidate their backup and DR Tools

About 30% of UK IT departments are incorporating smartphone and tablet initiatives in their strategies for 2012 as workers increasingly use the devices for work purposes.

A Computer Weekly and TechTarget survey of more than 2,500 IT professionals worldwide revealed that 28.9% plan to introduce initiatives to use smartphones in the business, while 30.3% will enable the use of tablet PCs.

The year of BYOD

Demand from workers to use the same technology at work and at home is driving the take-up of schemes in business to make this possible. Bring your own device (BYOD) programmes formalise the use of smartphones and tablets at work and enable businesses to reap the benefits while retaining control.

One of the benefits of schemes to enable staff to use their own devices reduced costs.

Mobile Device Management (MDM)

The Computer Weekly/TechTarget research revealed that IT departments are reacting to this. A total of 21.1% of IT professionals are planning to carry out mobile device management initiatives this year. A total of 26.1% said they are planning mobile security projects.

Mobile Device Management and Security are key for these projects to work - Net Essence can help your business to develop the right strategy. General Enquiries without obligation to discuss your company's MDM requirements.

Losing or having data compromised can not only create a brand nightmare, it can cost days and thousands of dollars to recover, resulting in a major sales hit.  According to a report by the UK’s Department of Trade and Industry and PricewaterhouseCoopers, 70% of small businesses that have a major data loss go out of business within a year.

Small businesses tend not to have a dedicated IT staff and little desire to spend a lot of money on technology. For this sized business, the best data backup strategy is a cloud-based service where the business pays a monthly fee and all of its data is housed online or in the cloud.

The data is automatically backed up, and the small business would be able to easily retrieve the data when needed. The cloud model totally eliminates the capex [Capital Expenditure], and there’s no complexity.

Mid-market small businesses usually have an IT staffer that understands technology, but is a generalist. They want technology, but they don’t want something too complex and they don’t have a lot of capital to work with. For this size of business, a syorage appliance is often the best solution. With a storage appliance, the small business will have more control over data, but it’s still void of many of the complexities of an expansive system.

Symantec’s 2011 SMB Disaster Preparedness Survey found 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 disasters can have a significant financial impact on SMBs. The median cost of downtime for an SMB is almost £8,000 per day.

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.

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.

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. 52 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.

Data Backup 50% Extra Free Capacity to discuss your company's data backup provisions and to find out how to effectively protect your business-critical information.

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Choosing the wrong computer consultant to support your network can not only be incredibly frustrating and expensive, but it could end up costing you in downtime, data loss, and expensive repair bills, not to mention the headaches and frustration!

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A scam that targets businesses advertising job opportunities has already cost one company the best part of £100,000 according to the FBI.

How it works

After advertising vacancies, the companies receive applications by e-mail. The e-mails contain attachments that when opened, infect the user's PC with malware. Once the machine is compromised, the hackers use it to access the victim's online bank account.

How to prevent it

Where possible, use web-based forms for collecting information from job applicants rather than publicising your e-mail address. (In fact, try to avoid publicising your e-mail address anywhere on the Internet!).

Always ensure that you have the up-to-date and effective anti-virus and other security software on your computer, also making sure that all applications are fully patched and updated.

Contact us about an IT Security Audit for your company

A tip for job seekers

There are many "viral" e-mails doing the rounds these days. Often, they mention that you have made the short-list of applicants and that you should download an "application pack". As a good rule of thumb, never reply to any messages that don't have the Name or ID of the company in the e-mail. It goes without saying that if the e-mail refers to a job that you did not apply for, it should be deleted immediately.