2009 Disaster Recovery & Business Continuity Survey
Agility Recovery Solutions and Hughes Marketing Group have conducted a Disaster Recovery & Business Continuity Survey of over 700 small and mid-size business owners, executives, managers and directors in the United States and Canada.
In the spring of 2009, Agility Recovery Solutions engaged Hughes Marketing Group to survey small and mid-sized businesses in North America about their disaster recovery and business continuity plans. The survey assessed their abilities and readiness to resume “business as usual” after interruptions caused by natural and man-made disasters, such as hurricanes, thunderstorms, telephone outages, server failures and more.
Over 700 small and mid-sized businesses in the United States and Canada participated in the online survey. Respondents encompassed a cross section of industries and company sizes. Especially significant were the numbers of insurance agencies (27%), credit unions (16%) and banks (13%) that responded. The majority of respondents were company officers (44%) like chairmen, presidents, CEOs, COOs, SVPs and owners, while many IT directors (11%), business continuity directors (8%) and compliance officers (4%) also participated. Seventy-six percent of respondents have less than 100 employees at their locations.
General Findings
- Small and medium-sized businesses are woefully unprepared for disasters.
- Data backup brings a false sense of security.
- Responses indicate a difference between saying the “right thing” and taking action.
- Businesses Regularly Face Disasters
- Continuity Plans Becoming a Priority
- Plans are Not Complete
- Plans are Not Updated
- Small Companies Don’t Put Time Toward Plan; Larger Companies are Better Prepared
- Gaining C-Level Buy-In is a Challenge
- Third-Party Support for Planning and Recovery
The complete survey is available here.
