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Major Laptop Catastrophes and Loss of Data Common for Washington, DC Professionals

Posted on: Tuesday, 26 July 2005, 09:00 CDT

Sixty-percent of Washington, DC professionals have experienced major laptop computer catastrophes resulting in a loss of data, according to three recent surveys conducted by StorLab, a division of leading DC-based data storage integrator, CorData, Inc.

According to the surveys, precious days - not hours - are likely to be lost when a major laptop computer catastrophe happens, meaning thousands of dollars in lost productivity to companies that depend on their mobile workforce. Of respondents that experienced data loss, 40 percent said it took "several" or "two-to-three days" to have their data restored; 20 percent were able to have their data restored in one day; and a startling 18 percent were never able to retrieve their lost information.

This problem is compounded by the complexity of many companies' data-backup systems. According to the survey, one quarter of participants responded that data backup of their office laptops is their sole responsibility, and 26 percent stated that their companies' systems were "somewhat difficult" to use.

The mobile workforce is multiplying and more time is spent working out of the office on laptops than ever before, creating a new issue for companies that need to establish easy and inexpensive data-backup systems for their remote workers. The surveys revealed that 67 percent of respondents work up to 20 hours a week on their laptops, and nearly 10 percent work between 21 and 40 hours per week on their laptops, numbers which are expected to rise in coming years.

"Our survey confirms our observations...users are not adequately protected from laptop problems, and these problems tend to be catastrophic," said Corey Preville, Founder of StorLab and CorData, Inc. "Laptop computers are the premier productivity tool for knowledge-workers. Laptop operating systems are complex, users install many personalized settings and software tools, and there is a large quantity of data to protect. Unfortunately, it's difficult to apply traditional backup solutions to a computer that is moved around all the time. Most IT departments leave it to users to back up their own systems but, as confirmed by our survey, that's just not delivering the protection that's needed."

The results of three surveys were compiled to generate the above results. The surveys were administered June 24, 2005 through July 18, 2005 and distributed to professionals in the Washington, DC-area at companies greater than 50 employees. They yielded a total of 309 responses. Thirty-nine percent of respondents were engineering professionals; 13 percent were medical professionals; 13 percent were business consultants; and the remaining 35 percent were made up of architecture and accounting professionals, as well as media consultants.

StorLab was launched last month, and is a division of CorData, Inc., which has been delivering advanced storage network solutions and integration services to high profile government agencies, as well as public and private companies in the Washington, D.C. area for several years. It services an extensive client base, including: NASA, NIST, Smithsonian Institute, USA Today, US Air Force, US Army, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Northrop Grumman and Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab. For more information, visit www.storlab.com or www.cordatasys.com.

Source: Business Wire

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