More organizations backing up data after Katrina.(News & Numbers)

In the wake of major disasters such as Hurricane Katrina, organizations have learned that backing up or replicating data may be the key to keeping their business running, according to a survey by Gartner, Inc. In a survey of North American IT managers, 45 percent of those surveyed reported backing up or replicating data to another disk, up dramatically from just 6 percent in 2004. Although more organizations are backing up data, 70 percent of respondents back up to a local device, leaving their backup data vulnerable to a local catastrophe.

"Backing up data to a local device means that any catastrophic event that destroyed a company's primary server would likely destroy the backup media as well," said Adam W. Couture, principal research analyst for Gartner. "Companies hoping to protect their data for the long haul must look at using remote backup and recovery service providers."

In September 2004, Gartner surveyed 104 IT managers in North America regarding their current and intended use of storage hardware and software support, implementation services, consulting and managed storage services. The research targeted organizations with established IT environments that used external service providers.

With storage security a big concern, especially in the wake of the many lost and stolen data incidents in 2005, 55 percent of respondents ...