Virtualisation, cloud, mobile help bolster disaster preparedness

According to a survey from Symantec, disaster preparedness is directly linked with how SMBs are adopting virtualisation, cloud computing, and mobility – often bolstering their preparedness as they make the move to these models.

A third of SMBs Symantec surveyed are using mobile devices for business use, while 34 percent are either in the process of deploying virtualisation or are already using it. 40 percent of those surveyed are deploying public clouds, and 43 percent are implementing private clouds.

As SMBs consider adopting those technologies, they are increasingly keeping disaster preparedness in mind. 37 percent agreed that disaster preparedness played a part in driving private cloud adoption, while 34 percent said it was a concern when moving to public cloud and server virtualisation. Mobility was a factor, too, influencing the decision 36 percent of the time, according to Symantec’s report.

Symantec found that early adopters of these technologies had been finding themselves with better disaster preparedness in place, with as many as 71 percent of those surveyed reporting an improvement with server virtualisation.

The same could be said for private and public cloud at 43 percent and 41 percent respectively, while 36 percent of those surveyed thought mobility improved their disaster preparedness.

Symantec advised businesses to best take advantage of the opportunities for improving data preparedness with these technologies by developing their own strategies now. Companies should also integrate cloud backup for offsite storage and for disaster recovery, with Symantec advising automated physical to virtual backup conversion.

Symantec urged companies to use comprehensive security and backup technologies to protect their systems in physical, virtual, and mobile – as well as possibly backing up to the cloud. They should also review and test disaster preparedness at least once a quarter.