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Symantec Corporation: Symantec Reveals Small-to-Medium Business Data Protection PracticesNot On Pace With Data Growth; Survey outlines risky backup processes that can negatively impact sales and customer relationships
(M2 PressWIRE Via Acquire Media NewsEdge)
RDATE:01122008
CUPERTINO, Calif. -- Symantec Corp. (Nasdaq: SYMC) announces today that
a new independent study finds that small and medium businesses (SMB)
rate backup as their second-highest computing priority, after defense
against viruses and other malware, and ahead of issues such as reducing
costs and deploying new computers. Ninety-two percent of companies have
deployed some form of data backup technology, yet 50 percent of those
respondents have lost data. Of the companies that lost data,
approximately a third have lost sales, 20 percent have lost customers
and a quarter claim the data loss caused severe disruptions to the
company.
"A lot of small business owners don't think data loss can happen to
them," said Susan Shea Cameron, Ed.S., BCBA, clinical director and
partner, Cameron Consultation. "When the hard drives failed on our
company computers, our work came to a six-week standstill, clients had
to wait, meetings had to be rescheduled and we risked losing a
curriculum that took 20 years to create. I now use Symantec Online
Backup and will never again go through the experience of losing data
that I thought was backed up."
Many companies do not back up their computers fully. About a quarter of
SMBs conduct no backup of their PCs, and another 13 percent do only
informal backups where employees decide the frequency and which files
are protected without corporate guidance. The situation is similar for
servers; about 20 percent of SMBs conduct no server backup.
When backups do occur, most backup files are not stored remotely. More
than half of all backup files on PCs and servers are stored in the same
location as the originals, which leaves the company vulnerable to
permanent data loss.
According to survey results, causes of data loss are diverse.
Although natural disasters are often cited as a risk, onsite disasters
are the primary contributing factor of data loss.
Sixty-three percent of respondents cited hardware failure as a cause of
data loss incidents, 27 percent from deliberate sabotage by employees,
and 27 percent from theft.
"In a small or mid-sized business, where money and staff time are at a
premium, there's always something more pressing to do than manage
backups," said Chris Schin, senior director of product management,
Symantec. "As digital data volumes increase so does the risk of
irrevocable harm to a company's bottom line if that data is not
protected. Our customers are looking for solutions from a trusted
provider that offer simplified management and the ability to scale as
their businesses grow."
Symantec Online Backup scales to provide small and mid-sized businesses
with secure, affordable backup and recovery over the Internet. With
Symantec Online Backup, small businesses can get the same level of
secure, on-going protection expected by the Fortune 500.
Symantec commissioned Rubicon Consulting to conduct an independent
survey of IT decision-makers at several hundred small businesses, of
fewer than 250 employees in North America, to determine how effectively
they protect their data and whether their backup practices have kept
pace with the growth of their data. For more details on the survey
results go to www.spn.com.
About Symantec
Symantec is a global leader in providing security, storage and systems
management solutions to help consumers and organizations secure and
manage their information-driven world. Our software and services
protect against more risks at more points, more completely and
efficiently, enabling confidence wherever information is used or
stored. More information is available at www.symantec.com.
Note to Editors: If you would like additional information on Symantec
Corporation and its products, please visit the Symantec News Room at
http://www.symantec.com/news. All prices noted are in U.S. dollars and
are valid only in the United States.
Symantec and the Symantec Logo are trademarks or registered trademarks
of Symantec Corporation or its affiliates in the U.S. and other
countries. Other names may be trademarks of their respective owners.
((M2 Communications Ltd disclaims all liability for information
provided within M2 PressWIRE. Data supplied by named party/parties.
Further information on M2 PressWIRE can be obtained at
http://www.presswire.net on the world wide web. Inquiries to
info@m2.com)).
Copyright ? 2008 M2 Communications Ltd.
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