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.