| UK IT directors worry about terror threat more than EMEA counterparts UK IT directors are nearly three times more likely to be concerned about the threat of terrorism crippling their systems than their counterparts in 13 other countries in Europe, Middle East & Africa (EMEA) according to research from data storage specialist, Hitachi Data Systems. Almost one in three (30 percent) UK IT directors highlight the terror threat as a major business continuity concern, compared to 11 percent on average across the other countries surveyed. In Germany only 4 percent listed terrorism as a major concern and in France it was 10 percent. Even in Israel, which suffers from high levels of terrorist activity, only 19 percent of IT directors listed it as a major business continuity concern. Overall the top business continuity worries for IT directors questioned throughout the EMEA region were fire (66 percent), human error (62 percent) and virus attack (51 percent). The findings come from the 'Hitachi Data Systems Storage Index' - produced from interviews with IT directors in 14 countries across EMEA. Despite their business continuity concerns, however, over a quarter (26 percent) of IT directors questioned in the survey could not remember when their company's business continuity plan was last tested or admit it was over a year ago. Seven per cent have no BC plan at all. Another finding from the Hitachi Data Systems Storage Index relates to whether companies' business continuity systems are prepared for widespread disasters, such as floods, which can cause damage over several kilometres. 47 percent of companies in the survey have their back-up data centre within 5 kilometres (3 miles) of the primary data centre, with a further 12 percent within 10 kilometres (6 miles). Only 12 percent of corporations have over 100 kilometres (62 miles) between their primary and remote data centres. The research also reveals that the speed of information recovery following a disaster could pose problems for 44 percent of companies who store backup data primarily on magnetic tapes kept at a remote location. It can take up to 24 hours to recover information from tape backups, and even a simple hitch, like a tape getting held up en-route in a traffic jam, can cause a delay costing thousands of pounds in added downtime. Faster, disk-based back-up systems, which deliver near instantaneous data recovery, are now used by 47 percent of companies surveyed.
•Date:
17th September 2003 •Region: UK •Type:
Article •Topic: BC
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