Johannesburg, 13 Jun 2014
Cloud solutions specialist Alto Africa has conducted research which provides a fascinating glimpse into the data backup habits of some of the most regulated industries in the country: the legal and accounting professions. The company found that while most practitioners have some measures in place, information isn't universally well protected - and a small percentage has nothing to safeguard their information.
Alto Africa director Oliver Potgieter says with today's modern technology, there should be little reason to lose any information, should things go wrong. "Experience has proven to all of us, at one time or another, that computers, laptops, phones and desktop drives can and do break. When they do, we've also all experienced the frustration and anger at losing data - yet, even with easy-to-use solutions which virtually guarantee never having to lose information again, we don't use them."
But what of accountants and lawyers, who have a legal obligation to store information for specified periods? "Overall, the levels of 'having something in place' are very good," says Potgieter. "The real question is 'are they good enough' or 'are you using the best available options'. After all, online, automated backup is not only easy to use, it just doesn't cost very much either."
He notes that when backups are held onsite, the business is at risk, for example, if a fire breaks out. When backups are done manually, typically on a weekly or monthly basis, gaps occur while the process is at risk of human error, which is potentially exacerbated when the person responsible takes leave.
The company polled a sample of 63 accountants in the Western Cape. It found:
* While 85% back up both data and e-mails, these are typically done onsite.
* Of these, only half perform backups daily; 20% weekly; 11% monthly.
* Almost 1% of respondents do not perform backups at all.
* Forty percent personally back up their data, while 25% leave it to IT professionals. A further 20% could not specify (they don't know how their data is backed up).
* Most backups are conducted manually; 19% are done in the cloud; 37% are done onsite; and 25% are done on both.
Alto Africa also polled 30 legal professionals in the Western Cape. It found:
* While 90% back up both data and e-mails, these are typically done onsite.
* Of these, half perform backups daily, 27% weekly and 10% monthly.
* Twenty percent personally back up their data, while 40% leave it up to IT professionals. A further 10% could not specify.
* Most backups are conducted manually; 13.3% are done in the cloud; 33.3% are not done in the cloud; and 56.7% on both.
According to the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants, the regulations regarding retention of records include that auditor's data is kept for five years after completion; Close Corporation documentation for up to 15 years; companies' information for seven years; and consumer information/credit records for three years.
Potgieter says the findings demonstrate that even in the most regulated industries where there are clear rules surrounding information protection, the rigour applied to backups was patchy. "Intuitively, we know that the situation is likely to be far worse in those industries where there aren't specific regulations for information protection - but one commonality is that, regardless of vertical industry, data loss hurts."
There is no law that stipulates how data is retained; however, it is clear that it must be done.
So what happens when your computer crashes and five years' worth of records go with it? "According to research conducted by BCN, 93% of businesses that lose their data go out of business within a year, and 50% that lose their data stores for a period of 10 or more days file for bankruptcy immediately. This is a significant risk, particularly as it applies to records that have sensitive information," he says.
The question that Potgieter leaves is simple: Do you really want to risk your business by not implementing inexpensive, effective backup protection?
*Alto provides an online backup solution that enables secure cloud server backups which offer protection from disaster, automated daily backups and immediate data restoration from as little as R3/GB/month.
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