90% of Organizations Think Their Data Vulnerable in Event of Disaster

According to the survey, 90% of IT decision makers think their data is vulnerable in the event of a disaster. While only a 3% increase in perceived risk from the 2010 survey findings, this is particularly notable considering all of the focus on improving DR over the last few years. 27% experienced some form of data security incident in the last year, only 15% of which were due to natural disasters.

 The survey also found:

• The number of respondents describing their organization's data as "extremely vulnerable" edged up from 8% in the 2010 survey to 11%, and the number who felt minimally vulnerable or not vulnerable shrank from 51% to 31%.
• The most common data security incident was virus attacks, up 7% points from 2010, showing the need to have a robust backup process in place as viruses can permeate multiple data copies.
• Operating system failure (48%) was the next most common security issue, which saw a 21% point increase from the previous survey.
• While 68% of respondents back up data daily or more for DR purposes, 16% back up weekly or less, showing there is still room for adoption of best practices.
• Companies that aren't able to restore their archive or DR data face significant delays in business activities, lost revenue, and a negative impact on resources. Half of all respondents noted that a data restore problem could put service level agreements with customers at risk. All of these consequences directly affect a company's financials.

The heightened awareness of the vulnerability of data assets and the consequences of a disaster have made DR an IT budget priority. According to a survey by industry analyst firm Enterprise Strategy Group, one quarter of IT professionals listed business continuity/DR programs among their organization's most important IT priorities for 2012 spending.

Natural disasters such as this summer's wildfires have dominated recent discussion around disaster recovery planning for IT, but there are other threats to data security that are even more pressing for IT managers.  We're seeing a strong, sustained interest in the value of deduplicated and replicated disk backup and path-to-tape solutions for a best-practices approach to DR. In addition, many customers are now seeking all-in-one solutions that protect both physical and virtual environments. Increasingly, companies are also turning to cloud software and services for a solution to DR challenges.

EMC vs NetApp - Bidding war for Data Domain, Inc.

Storage administrators are keeping a close eye on EMC Corp.'s and NetApp's bidding war for Data Domain Inc. and wondering how the fate of the data deduplication backup specialist will impact their shops and the storage industry in general.

While customers generally see Data Domain fitting better with NetApp than EMC, they are nervous about the competitive aspects of the industry's consolidation. Nasser Mirzai, vice president of technology at San Mateo, Calif.-based TradeBeam Inc., has products from EMC, NetApp and Data Domain. He pointed out that Data Domain's product line is more similar to NetApp's than EMC's. NetApp and Data Domain have core software they use across different hardware designs suited to different sized businesses. EMC is also perceived as more of a large enterprise company, according to Mirzai, while NetApp and Data Domain have broader appeal to midrange organizations.

"I think NetApp could keep the same energy and momentum and bring that concept to its full potential of taking a similar approach across different sizes of product," he said. "If the perception is that this is a big monster EMC product and users can't afford it, it may slow down growth and impact adoption [of Data Domain devices]."

Mirzai also said EMC has more potential conflicts of interest with Data Domain customers because of its broad product portfolio. EMC CEO Joe Tucci has already pledged that his company will cooperate with all backup software vendors if it acquires Data Domain, but Mirzai isn't sure.

"What if this means that [EMC] NetWorker support for Data Domain would be better going forward than, say, [Symantec Corp.'s] Backup Exec?" he asked. Added Mirzai: "Data Domain management has already accepted the NetApp offer. I think NetApp has a stronger chance. Then again, money talks."

Storage administrators also suspect gamesmanship in EMC's tender offer to Data Domain shareholders rather than genuine plans for the company's data deduplication backup technology. "I don't think that they [EMC] are really interested in Data Domain," said NetApp customer Reinoud Reynders, IT manager at the University Hospitals Leuven in Belgium. "NetApp has a real advantage in dedupe of online storage." That said, Reynders said he doesn't expect NetApp to break the bank for Data Domain. "I'm very confident that the board of NetApp will only buy it for a fair price," he said.

Even some EMC customers said they worry about the competitive implications of EMC cornering the market on data deduplication with IP from both Avamar Technologies Inc. (which EMC acquired in 2006) and Data Domain. Sean O'Mahoney, vice president and senior manager of technology services at Republic Bank in Louisville, Ky., considered Data Domain but picked EMC's Avamar, NetWorker and DL3D virtual tape library (VTL) based on a partnership with Quantum Corp.

"Data Domain did have some features we liked – it would be positive for us if EMC picks it up," O'Mahoney said. "But if NetApp gets Data Domain, the consumer wins as it's a more competitive environment."

Another EMC customer, David Grant, data center manager at Kanata, Ontario-based Mitel Networks Corp., wrote in an email to SearchStorage.com, "If I had my 'druthers' I think that I'd rather see the young guy win…I have less trust in EMC's intentions, or in [its] ability to successfully add in Data Domain's technology to their existing product lines without losing something along the way. EMC [is] maybe just too big and set in [its] ways for me to feel good about [it] being the winning bidder here."

Not every EMC customer feels that way, however. "Obviously, with our investment in mostly EMC equipment and being a Data Domain customer, it probably makes better business sense for us [for EMC to win]," said Michael Passe, storage architect at Boston-based Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. "Generally, EMC doesn't have the strictly à la carte pricing model that NetApp follows on its NAS [network-attached storage] equipment."

But some NetApp customers find the consolidation just as worrying no matter who wins. Jim Krochmal, manager of IT at cement plant designer Polysius in Atlanta, wrote in an email to SearchStorage.com, "I prefer NetApp so I can stay in the same 'product family.' It just seems we have to declare allegiance to 'corporate families/gangs/partners' these days," he wrote. "[That means] fewer choices and less compatibility at full functionality."

Added Stan Horowitz, data management engineer at Philadelphia-based Temple University, "My concern is that the playing field in the area of data deduplication will be narrowed because both NetApp and EMC already offer competing solutions to what Data Domain offers."

Who will win the EMC, NetApp bidding war for Data Domain?

While customers consider how Data Domain's acquisition will affect them, industry analysts are debating who will win EMC Corp.'s and NetApp's bidding war for Data Domain Inc.

"Here is how this plays out," said Brian Babineau, a senior analyst at Milford, Mass.-based Enterprise Strategy Group. "NetApp counters with a richer offer, and EMC doesn't because it was just doing this to raise the price and they bow out." After a year or so spent squarely in the sights of EMC in a bitterly competitive market, Babineau said he doubts Data Domain employees would want to be integrated into EMC. "They are OK with NetApp," he said.

Backup expert W. Curtis Preston is just as certain EMC will prevail, writing in his blog, "There's no way NetApp's going to outbid EMC here. Everyone already thought that [$]1.5 [billion] was too much for NetApp to pay, given their track record with acquisitions. How are they going to outbid a [$]1.8 ALL CASH bid? …Methinks they're back to square one."

One customer who uses EMC and NetApp has a good idea who the ultimate winner will be.

"More than likely, the only clear winners will be the lawyers," said Tom Becchetti, who works with a Fortune 200 company that he requested not be identified because of corporate policy forbidding him to use its name publicly. "Data Domain stockholders won't be doing bad either."