Cloud and Hybrid Business Continuity Solutions Will See More Investments From SMBs

For those of you who are old enough to know that carbonite was the mining substance that froze Hans Solo (look up the reference if you do not know it), you can now associate the name with a company known as an online backup service, available to Windows and Mac users, that backs up documents, e-mails, music, photos, and settings. Yes it was named after the fictional substance used to freeze Han Solo.

Earlier this week, Carbonite, provider of cloud and hybrid business continuity solutions for small and midsize businesses (SMBs), announced the results of a new study conducted by IDC (News - Alert). The report is entitled "The Growth Opportunity for SMB Cloud and Hybrid Business Continuity" which surveyed 700 SMBs worldwide.

According to the respondents of the latest IDC survey, many SMBs are targeting cloud or hybrid business continuity strategies. The study conducted by these two companies show that 72 percent of SMBs are inclined to provide additional investments in business continuity over the next two years. On the other hand, what is perceived as an alarming number, 35 percent still do not have a business continuity solution, nor have considered one.

Laura DuBois, who is the program vice president storage, eDiscovery and IG for IDC, made the following comments, "Small businesses are facing operational challenges stemming from persistent data growth, budgetary constraints and the need to produce more with less, which is driving adoption of cloud computing, data analytics and mobility similar to their enterprise counterparts. To address these challenges, SMBs have signaled a need and intention to drive material spending on business continuity in the next 12 to 24 months. With more than 6.2 million small and mid-size businesses in the U.S. and 78 million small and mid-size businesses worldwide, the SMB Business Continuity market presents a wealth of opportunity for providers that can address the SMB's need for cloud-enabled, feature-rich, holistic solutions that are cost-effective and easy to own and maintain."

The report did find that there is a lack of consistency in the way that SMBs deal with business continuity. This stems from the fact that most rely on up to four different scenarios that result in various solutions when it comes to the way that they deal with business continuity, with up to 65 percent leveraging their options through on-premise data backup.

Some of the other facts revealed through the report include the following;

• 1 Hour of Downtime costs SMBs anywhere from $8,220 to $25,600
• Unplanned outages lasting over 24 hours often devastate a business
• 80 percent of SMBs have experienced downtime in the past
• Events involving system downtime conservatively costs $82,200 to $256,000 per occurrence

It seems that these days maintaining all aspects of a small business can be quite costly and become outdated rather quickly. Perpetual software licenses or personnel to manage backup or replication jobs can butt into a business’ budget. Cloud services are a way of reducing in-house services and equipment.

The IDC report has also found that today’s SMBs are in need of solutions that:

• Fit with SMB budget: According to IDC's 2015 Business Continuity Study, the majority of SMBs report an annual IT budget of up to $20,000 and those who invest will allocate up to 14 percent of their budget to business continuity, representing an annual spend of $2,800.
• Reduce Complexity: With three to four different business continuity products in use, SMBs need simple, easy-to-deploy and manage business continuity services.
• Offer Enterprise-Grade Features: SMBs face many of the same challenges as larger enterprises when it comes to recovery time objectives (RTO), tiered storage and compliance.

We often think that security is the most important aspect that a company has to focus on, however, a backup strategy that makes it possible to maintain a company’s information when a disaster occurs is just as important. These sentiments are reflected in the comments that Carbonite’s CEO made when Mohamad Ali said, "When it comes to disaster recovery, the stakes are higher for small businesses. SMBs realize that a business continuity solution can mean the difference between staying in business or losing everything they've worked for, and the data shows they are investing accordingly. According to the IDC survey, the majority of those who invest are spending as much as $2,800 a year. With 6.2 million SMBs in just the U.S., the market opportunity for business continuity exceeds $17 billion. At Carbonite, we understand the unique needs of small businesses and provide business continuity solutions that combine the power of enterprise technology with the simplicity of consumer products at an affordable fixed cost that maximizes their investment."