Although data protection and backup services are a top priority for small businesses over the next 18 months, small businesses admit they currently leave themselves vulnerable to data loss and the high costs associated with recovery. A new survey of small businesses and home office users who actively use computers, conducted by Verio, found that 45 percent of respondents have no data recovery plan in place for information stored on their PCs, and 33 percent who do have a plan, are storing data in ways that still leave it susceptible.

“Given the affordability and easy deployment of some of today’s PC data backup and recovery solutions, it’s surprising that such a large number of small businesses leave their data exposed and at risk,” said Kiyoshi Maeda, president and CEO for Verio. “Many of these businesses continue to learn the difficult lesson that storing customer data, financials and other information on PCs often falls short, and that protecting themselves with an affordable, fully managed solution can be cost-effective, quick to deploy and easy to maintain.”

Recovery Would Prove Costly For Many

According to the findings, 70 percent of small businesses reported that a single incidence of data loss would be considered significant and costly. Fifty-three percent of respondents have already experienced an actual loss of information that was stored on a PC, with 64 percent indicating data loss due to something as common as a hard drive crash. The survey indicated that the vast majority of small businesses don’t know how to protect themselves, with only nine percent of small businesses saying they are familiar with business continuity and disaster recovery solutions.

Today’s small business employee is more likely than ever to be connected to a network, and the constant threat of viruses, file corruption, accidental deletion and theft puts businesses at risk. Small and midsized businesses have already indicated that customer information is the most valuable type of information stored on their PC and with nearly 75 percent of small business employees using PCs on a regular basis, the need for small businesses to protect their critical customer data has become clear.

Midsize and Small Businesses Ready to Remedy the Problem

SMBs are beginning to see the writing on the wall and have made data protection and backup services a top priority during the coming months. As a vehicle collision repair shop with locations across Pennsylvania, The Body Shop @ Andretti says it regularly provides repair estimates to insurers, and it’s vital for the company to back-up those estimates for future reference, not to mention customer information and financial data.

“Total, unrecoverable data loss for The Body Shop would be disastrous. We’re a young business and simply can’t afford to endure a permanent loss of data, which is why a PC data backup service is so critical for us,” said John Sweigart, principal of The Body Shop @ Andretti. “We used to back-up data onto flash drives that went home every night with the managers, but that’s just not practical. A professional data backup service that provides the ability to back-up data from multiple drives and easily select or delete files is a much more viable method for us.”

About the Survey

Verio conducted a survey of small and midsized business customers in July 2006 to identify current business impacts, risks and practices surrounding data backup and storage practices. Verio launched a managed PC Data Backup solution to small and midmarket customers earlier this year. More information can be found at www.verio.com/data-backup.