2018 State of Cloud & Data Protection Report

Summary of top 10 Findings

800 IT professionals from various sized companies were surveyed to create Unitrend’s 2018 State of Cloud & Data Protection Report. The two areas of IT focus were: the current state of data protection and disaster recovery, and the attitudes towards and usage of the cloud.

The survey revealed a disparity of results regarding data protection and disaster readiness – from deploying minimal levels of best practices to using the cloud to play a critical role in business continuity.

Overall, results highlight:

• Data center growth - in size and complexity
• The continued need for data protection and recovery solutions
• Cloud becoming an increasing larger part of the data protection and recovery solution

Section 1: The State of Data Protection and Business Continuity

Finding #1: Continued Exponential Data Growth

27% of companies need to protect more than 100TB of data - this has doubled since 2016. There is a decline in the need to protect volumes under 25TB – from 65+TB to 45+TB.

There is also the need to protect both physical (73%) and virtual (67%)servers.

Trends indicate that the entire data protection and business continuity process will be longer, more complex and costly.

Finding #2: Data Loss Continues at an Unacceptable High Rate

Despite advances in the technology of data protection and business continuity, 30% of survey respondents reported losing data across all three years of the survey.

Finding #3: Disaster Recovery Testing is Increasing in Frequency

There was a 46% increase in companies reporting that they test monthly. 75% complete annual DR testing.

Testing is the only way to find and fix issues to be sure that your application can be restored to business performance.

Finding #4: Most Organizations Have a Secondary Recovery Site

73% of organizations have a secondary recovery site – a step which is critical to protect backups and host recovery operations. The best practices for data recovery include a 3-2-1 data protection strategy: 3 copies of data should be in 2 different formats, with 1 copy located at a remote site.

Finding #5: Cloud’s Role in Backup is Increasing

Cloud is replacing physical media (tape, removable disks, or optical media) as the primary backup media of choice with 36% of organizations utilizing this option. The expensive cost of physical media coupled with the decline in cloud storage cost have driven this shift.

Section 2: The Growing Acceptance of the Cloud

Finding #6: Cloud Plays Greater Role in Data Protection

59% of companies use the cloud for some form of disaster recovery reflecting the increased trust in cloud.

Finding #7: Growing Cloud Acceptance Extends to Non-Users

Of the 34% of survey respondents not using the cloud in early 2018, two thirds indicated that they would be adding cloud to the mix.

Finding #8: Cost Accounts for Cloud Resistance

Today, cost is the most frequently cited reason for not using the cloud, replacing the past common reasons dealing with functional concerns and data privacy.

Finding #9: Mid-sized companies lag in cloud adoption

57% of mid-sized companies (51 – 1000 employees) use the cloud versus 70% of small enterprises (1- 50 employees) and 65% of large enterprises (1001+ employees) respectively.

Why? Mid-size companies may not have the IT resources and technical knowledge to use the cloud although there are financial and operational advantages to be gained.

Finding #10: Cloud Usage Varies by Industry

The top adopters of cloud usage are technology companies and a mix of “other” consisting of retail, construction, engineering, services, wholesale, utilizes, etc. with 68% adoption each. Financial and legal organizations have the lowest usage but still report a 48% adoption. Healthcare has a 64% adoption; Manufacturing and Government have 59% adoption each; Education has a 54% adoption.

Unitrends’ 2018 survey showed that a larger percentage of organizations are following best DR practices, including trusting the cloud. Also demonstrated was the use of cloud as a cost effective and efficient tool in data protection and business continuity to meet Recovery Point Objectives (RPO) and Recovery Time Objectives (RTO).

Cloud adoption doesn’t have to be overwhelming - you don’t have to go it alone.

To best review your business’s needs, confer with an expert. An agnostic technology agent or consultant can ask the right questions to determine what you need, help you gain a deeper overview of the wide range of solutions available and how each one fits in with what you’re trying to accomplish. In addition to assisting you with procurement, they can also handle ongoing care.

Source: Unitrends 2018 annual survey

About Simplicity

Simplicity VoIP, based in Richmond, VA, provides hosted PBX, VoIP and business telephone solutions nationally to small, medium, and enterprise-level businesses for a comprehensive unified communications experience. Two distinct Class 5 geo-redundant VoIP platforms are offered in addition to fax-to-email, phones and equipment, and managed services. Named as Richmond’s 11th fastest growing company by Richmond BizSense, Simplicity VoIP’s key to success is its on-site service, installation and training supported 24/7/365 by a world-class client services team.