Up to a third of companies have not tested their disaster recovery systems within the last year, according to new research from Hitachi Data Systems.
This is despite recommendations from industry experts - such as the Business Continuity Institute - that disaster recovery strategies should be tested at least once a year.
The latest 'Hitachi Data Systems Storage Index'* - produced from interviews with IT directors across 12 European countries, as well as Israel and SA - reveals that disaster recovery testing policies vary widely between companies and countries.
Across the region, the research shows that:
* As many as a third (33%) of companies have failed to test their disaster recovery strategies within the last year.
* Of these, 18% have not tested in over two years.
* 8% of IT directors cannot remember the last time testing was performed.
* 7% of IT directors admit to not actually having a disaster recovery strategy in place.
"A good disaster recovery system is key in minimising the time it takes to get a company operational again after a disaster," says John Taffinder, executive HDS VP, EMEA. "Ideally, companies should be able to jump to their backup system instantaneously. If a company does not test its procedures regularly, it cannot assume its system will be up-to-date or function smoothly."
According to Fanie van Rensburg, MD of local HDS distributor, Shoden Data Systems, disaster recovery tests are often avoided because of the difficulty in physically 'moving home' once production has switched to the secondary site. "It is important to select storage technology that allows production to switch to the secondary site easily - reducing the impact and enabling tests to be run more frequently."
The Hitachi Data Systems Storage Index also reveals that 47% of companies have their back-up data centre within 5km of the primary data centre, with a further 12% within 10km. Only 12% of corporations have over 100km between their primary and remote data centres.
"Judging the ideal distance between primary and remote data centres is a difficult equation," adds Van Rensburg. "Small-scale disasters are far more likely to impact a company and therefore nearby recovery is deemed sufficient for many companies. However, should a major disaster strike, such as wide-scale flooding, a 5km distance may not be enough to ensure business continuity."
Speed of recovery remains an issue as 44% of companies rely on tape-based backup. 47% of companies have switched to disk-based backup which delivers near instantaneous backup, ensuring minimum disruption.
* Research note
The 'Hitachi Data Systems Storage Index' is third-party research, commissioned and owned by Hitachi Data Systems. Data reproduced from the 'Hitachi Data Systems Storage Index' must be sourced 'Hitachi Data Systems Storage Index'.
Findings are based on 630 IT director interviews, covering Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, SA, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK.
The 'Hitachi Data Systems Storage Index' will be available in October 2003.
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With offices in Johannesburg and Cape Town, Shoden Data Systems (Pty) Ltd is the sole distributor for Hitachi Data Systems in SA. In addition, Shoden Data Systems is the sole distributor of INRANGE Technologies Corporation, the world's leading manufacturer of channel extenders, fibre channel and ESCON/FICON directors. Shoden Data Systems is also a Veritas Premier Partner, providing integrated, managed, best-of-breed storage area network solutions to the marketplace, as well as a distributor of VMware, virtual machine software for Intel-based systems.
Based on more than 200 collective years of experience in the service, support and marketing of Hitachi products, Shoden Data Systems uses its intellectual capital and industry leading products to provide customers with total solutions in the storage, enterprise servers and connectivity arenas. The following offerings are available:
1. Storage - the HDS Freedom storage range, including Lightning 9900 and 9500.
2. Connectivity - the Inrange FC/9000 Fibre Channel/ FICON Director, ESCON Directors and Channel Extenders.
3. Servers - Fujitsu Siemens PrimePower range of servers.
Hitachi Data Systems
Hitachi Data Systems is committed to enabling organisations worldwide to exploit the full potential of information. By following and deploying our TrueNorth strategy, we provide customers with a broad range of storage solutions to simplify, protect and optimise their information infrastructures. Our offerings include centralised and distributed storage systems and software, professional services, complemented by best-of-breed products through channel partners and industry alliances.
With 2 700 employees, Hitachi Data Systems conducts business through direct and indirect channels in the public, government and private sectors in over 170 countries. Its customers include more than 50% of Fortune 100 companies. For more information, please visit our Web site at www.eu.hds.com.
Hitachi, Ltd
Hitachi, Ltd, headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, is a leading global electronics company, with approximately 320 000 employees worldwide. Fiscal 2001 (ended 31 March 2002) consolidated sales totalled 7,994 billion yen ($60.1 billion). The company offers a wide range of systems, products and services in market sectors, including information systems, electronic devices, power and industrial systems, consumer products, materials and financial services. For more information on Hitachi, please visit the company's Web site at http://global.hitachi.com.
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