More than Two Out of Five SMBs Have Lost Data

Carbonite, Inc. announced the results of a study indicating that many small businesses put their data at risk by using physical devices to back up computers.  

Forty-two percent of SMBs surveyed confirmed they have experienced data loss. Of those, 32 percent indicated they never retrieved the lost files.

The study finds that physical devices are the most common method small businesses employ for backup, with 86 percent of SMBs indicating that they rely on a physical device for some or all of their backup requirements. These devices include external hard drive (42 percent), USB/Flash memory stick (38 percent) and CDs/DVDs (25 percent).

"Relying on physical devices as the sole backup method leaves businesses vulnerable to data loss and less efficient, since the process for backing up to a physical device is almost always manual," said Carbonite Chairman and CEO David Friend, who has launched six companies including Carbonite and was named the 2010 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year for New England in the Consumer and Small Business Emerging Technology category.

Small-business owners backing up data are spending a significant amount of time on the administrative task of backup. Among those surveyed, 65 percent reported that the owner of the small business was responsible for backup.

"Downtime is crippling to businesses; it’s critical for business owners to focus their time working on the business instead of in the business," said Friend. "Employing automated processes like Carbonite online backup gives the business owner more time to grow their business."

In December, 2010, Carbonite surveyed more than 125 small businesses with 20 or fewer employees to study their disaster recovery and data backup methods.