Only 14% of business executives in the US think their company data would be very vulnerable in the event of a business disaster. This compares to 44% of European business executives, according to research by RoperASW, the US-based research service.
But the CIO response is markedly different -over half of US-based CIOs think corporate data is very vulnerable, whereas the European figures stands at 44%. This shows a significant divergence, particularly in the US, in the way that business executives and their IT counterparts perceive the problem of disaster recovery.
And while 25% of Europe’s business executives and IT specialists thought a minimum of three days would be required to resume normal business operations following a business disaster, only 9% of US executives thought three days would be required: US technology executives thought three days to a week would be necessary.
“Even with everything that has transpired over the past two years, there’s still a perception that protecting data is an IT problem, not necessarily a business priority,” says Carl Greiner, senior vice president of the META Group. “Resuming normal business operations after three days would cost a company millions and millions of dollars and/or immeasurable damage in terms of customer satisfaction and reputation. These results would suggest that business leaders need to open their eyes, ears and most likely their wallets to address some vulnerability in their organizations.”
Over 500 executives took part in the survey, all belonging to companies whose revenue exceeds $1 billion a year.
