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Despite risk, more SMBs consider cloud backup

While direct-attached storage dominates current backup solutions, 30 percent of small companies use the cloud and more plan to do so, according to a new Spiceworks survey.
Written by Heather Clancy, Contributor

Yet another study focused on the backup and disaster recovery strategies of small and midsize businesses suggests that they remain vulnerable in the face of a failure within their IT infrastructure, regardless of what causes it.

Approximately 45 percent of the 1,000 SMB IT professionals recently surveyed by Spiceworks said that their company had experienced some sort of data loss. More than half of them (54 percent) said that loss was caused by a hardware failure, resulting in an average of $9,000 in recovery fees, the data shows.

Contrast that expense with how much these SMBs are spending annually to manage data backup and recovery: an average of $5,700.

The top technology being used for backup and archiving among the survey base was direct-attached storage, used by 60 percent of the respondents.

Approximately 30 percent, however, said they are using a cloud-hosted solution as well. Another 14 percent plan to invest in a hosted offering over the next year.

Most of those considering a cloud option, however, plan to opt for either a private or hybrid approach that offers more reliability and security than public cloud storage or backup options, according to the survey results.

The individuals responding to the survey represented companies with fewer than 1,000 employees. This particular poll was sponsored by Carbonite, which offers a cloud backup and storage service, so consider that agenda when reading the results.

For more background on SMB downtime:

Most common cause of SMB downtime? The answer may surprise you

Here's the complete Spiceworks infographic:

Spiceworks

 

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