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Data
Health
Check
2021

Overview

Since 2008, we have been surveying UK IT Decision Makers for a snapshot of what is going on in IT, Cyber Security and Resilience.
This year, the world has adjusted to the global pandemic resulting in seismic changes in technology, work and society. We’ve seen a decade of digital transformation condensed into less than a year.
Last year, our survey took place just after the UK went into lockdown. As such, we were able to get a picture of preparations and response at that crucial time. This year, we see the changes made to keep workers productive and IT resilient.
We have also looked further back in time to track larger trends and reveal the constants that have stayed unchanged for over 10 years.

Peter Groucutt,

Managing Director

Data
Protection
& DR

What are the causes of data loss?

For the most part, the reasons we lose data don’t change. The one exception to that rule is cyber. Whereas most causes only fluctuate a little each year, since we began the Data Health Check, cyber attacks and internal security breaches have increased from 5-26%.

DR testing takes a step backwards

Over the last five years we’ve seen steady improvement in DR testing – and testing specifically against cyber threats. This year, with continuity activity focussed on the pandemic and remote working, DR testing has unfortunately taken a step backwards.

The perception of downtime

Loss of revenue is no-longer the top worry for organisations. It has been replaced by Reputational damage. Of course, these are two sides of the same coin. Reputational damage manifests as loss of future revenue. The prioritisation of Reputational damage and Customer dissatisfaction indicate an increased maturity in the understanding of less tangible and immediate impacts.

What is your biggest worry in a disaster?

Cyber

The growing cyber threat

Not only are cyber attacks growing as a cause of data loss, but the frequency of attacks is also increasing significantly.

I have been affected by ransomware

Would you pay ransomware?

Does your organisation have a policy for paying-out on a ransomware attack?

Cloud computing

Protecting cloud data

As the use of cloud services has increased, we’ve also realised their limitations. High-profile outages and data losses for Zoom, Microsoft and OVH Cloud have highlighted the need for backup and recovery capabilities.

We used additional backup and recovery capabilities for our cloud services in the last year

Pandemic response

The end of BYOD?

The rapid shift to home working didn’t leave much time to procure laptops and devices for staff. Our survey last year was taken just after the UK went into lockdown. In the year that passed, there’s been no change in the proportion of companies with an entirely BYOD policy. There has been a move from companies with a mix of devices now rolling out company-owned devices to all.
That’s good news because from a security perspective, while BYOD isn’t necessarily less secure, company owned devices are the simplest to manage.

Who owns the device staff use working remotely?

Conclusion

We should take time to recognise the technology and IT teams who kept organisations ticking through the most disruptive event of our lifetime. This year has proven that IT is up to the task and can rise to any challenge.
Without their expertise, and flexibility to adapt and secure systems, the economic and organisational impact of the pandemic would have been much worse.

Download full report

Data
Health
Check
2021

Overview

Since 2008, we have been surveying UK IT Decision Makers for a snapshot of what is going on in IT, Cyber Security and Resilience.
This year, the world has adjusted to the global pandemic resulting in seismic changes in technology, work and society. We’ve seen a decade of digital transformation condensed into less than a year.
Last year, our survey took place just after the UK went into lockdown. As such, we were able to get a picture of preparations and response at that crucial time. This year, we see the changes made to keep workers productive and IT resilient.
We have also looked further back in time to track larger trends and reveal the constants that have stayed unchanged for over 10 years.

Peter Groucutt,

Managing Director

Data Protection & DR

What are the causes of data loss?

For the most part, the reasons we lose data don’t change. The one exception to that rule is cyber. Whereas most causes only fluctuate a little each year, since we began the Data Health Check, cyber attacks and internal security breaches have increased from 5-26%.

DR testing takes a step backwards

Over the last five years we’ve seen steady improvement in DR testing – and testing specifically against cyber threats. This year, with continuity activity focussed on the pandemic and remote working, DR testing has unfortunately taken a step backwards.

The perception of downtime

Loss of revenue is no-longer the top worry for organisations. It has been replaced by Reputational damage. Of course, these are two sides of the same coin. Reputational damage manifests as loss of future revenue. The prioritisation of Reputational damage and Customer dissatisfaction indicate an increased maturity in the understanding of less tangible and immediate impacts.

What is your biggest worry in a disaster?

Cyber

The growing cyber threat

Not only are cyber attacks growing as a cause of data loss, but the frequency of attacks is also increasing significantly.

I have been affected by ransomware

Would you pay ransomware?

Does your organisation have a policy for paying-out on a ransomware attack?

Cloud computing

Protecting cloud data

As the use of cloud services has increased, we’ve also realised their limitations. High-profile outages and data losses for Zoom, Microsoft and OVH Cloud have highlighted the need for backup and recovery capabilities.

We used additional backup and recovery capabilities for our cloud services in the last year

Pandemic response

The end of BYOD?

The rapid shift to home working didn’t leave much time to procure laptops and devices for staff. Our survey last year was taken just after the UK went into lockdown. In the year that passed, there’s been no change in the proportion of companies with an entirely BYOD policy. There has been a move from companies with a mix of devices now rolling out company-owned devices to all.
That’s good news because from a security perspective, while BYOD isn’t necessarily less secure, company owned devices are the simplest to manage.

Who owns the device staff use working remotely?

Conclusion

We should take time to recognise the technology and IT teams who kept organisations ticking through the most disruptive event of our lifetime. This year has proven that IT is up to the task and can rise to any challenge.
Without their expertise, and flexibility to adapt and secure systems, the economic and organisational impact of the pandemic would have been much worse.

Download full report