Survey finds slow-decisions hampering continuity efforts

Here is some useful data for those on the sales side of things: according to a survey conducted by Littleton, Massacchusetts-based Marathon Technologies, 35 percent of British companies take more than six months just to reach a decision about what level of business continuity solution they should install, and as many as 20 percent of total respondents took a full year or more to reach this point. In addition, 10 percent of companies had no sort of business continuity solution in place at all, and 13 percent indicated that their companies had undertaken no planning, analysis, or research on the topic whatsoever. “It’s laudable that businesses go through a full analysis of their needs and their best suppliers, but this really should not be at the risk to their continuity,” said Marathon’s Nick Turnbull. “A year or even six months is too long to not be protected.”

The research, conducted by Tickbox.net, included responses from almost 700 IT workers, managers, and directors.

The Marathon research also showed that, out of all the different possible levels of protection, companies tended to go either all-out with a full business continuity solution or opted for the bare minimum in terms of basic data recovery (35 percent each). Much more rare was the “mid-ground option of high availability” considered when choosing protection (19 percent). One other interesting finding: The tourist and services industry is the least diligent sector, with 72 percent either using just data recovery or no back-up at all.