A new report revealed many SMBs are targeting cloud or hybrid business continuity strategies. Here's everything you need to know. The survey found that 65 percent of SMBs leverage on-premise data backup.

Dan Kobialka, Contributing writer

April 28, 2015

2 Min Read
Carbonite CEO Mohamad Ali
Carbonite CEO Mohamad Ali.

Many small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) are targeting cloud or hybrid business continuity strategies, according to a new survey from Talkin’ Cloud 100 honoree Carbonite (CARB) and market intelligence firm International Data Corp (IDC).

The survey, titled “The Growth Opportunity for SMB Cloud and Hybrid Business Continuity,” showed that 65 percent of SMBs leverage on-premise data backup. However, the survey also revealed that SMBs are increasingly turning to cloud or hybrid solutions to achieve business continuity, which could drive growth in the backup-as-a-service (BaaS) and recovery-as-a-service (RaaS) segments.

Other survey results included:

  • 81 percent of SMBs that are currently using business continuity solutions are considering improvements to their business continuity strategies.

  • 75 percent cited downtime as the single biggest driver for purchasing business continuity solutions. In addition, the survey showed that the average estimated cost for an hour of downtime for an SMB ranges from $8,220 to $25,600, and an unplanned event typically lasts up to 24 hours.

  • 72 percent said they expect to increase their investments in business continuity over the next 12 to 24 months.

Carbonite added that SMBs demand business continuity solutions that:

  • Fit within their budgets – The majority of SMBs reported an annual IT budget of up to $20,000, according to the survey, and those that invest in business continuity solutions will allocate up to 14 percent of their budget for these solutions, representing an annual total of $2,800.

  • Reduce complexity – SMBs need simple, easy-to-deploy and manage business continuity solutions.

  • Offer enterprise-grade features – SMBs face many of the same challenges as larger enterprises when it comes to recovery time objectives (RTO), tiered storage and compliance and need business continuity solutions to help them overcome these issues.

“SMBs are looking for strategies that ensure that their data and systems are protected, available and recoverable while eliminating the need for on-premise resources,” Carbonite CEO Mohamad Ali told Talkin’ Cloud. “While legacy business continuity solutions require on-premise hardware … modern cloud-enabled methods are friendlier to SMBs with limited resources.”

Carbonite and IDC surveyed 700 SMBs worldwide about the current state of SMB business continuity and disaster recovery (DR) to learn how these businesses address their data protection, recovery and availability needs.

Full survey results are available for download here.

What are your thoughts on the new survey from Carbonite and IDC? Share your thoughts about this story in the Comments section below, via Twitter @dkobialka or email me at [email protected].

About the Author(s)

Dan Kobialka

Contributing writer, Penton Technology

Dan Kobialka is a contributing writer for MSPmentor and Talkin' Cloud. In the past, he has produced content for numerous print and online publications, including the Boston Business Journal, Boston Herald and Patch.com. Dan holds a M.A. in Print and Multimedia Journalism from Emerson College and a B.A. in English from Bridgewater State College (now Bridgewater State University). In his free time, Kobialka enjoys jogging, traveling, playing sports, touring breweries and watching football (Go Patriots!).  

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