53% of Organizations Deployed Software or Service for PC Backup

The threat of potential damages resulting from the theft, loss, or compromise of critical proprietary data on enterprise PCs is fueling the adoption of more robust data protection and recovery solutions. According to recently released survey findings from IDC, more than half (53%) of all organizations surveyed have deployed a software or service for PC backup.

The adoption of a centralized PC backup approach is gaining momentum as more and more business units, C-level executives, and legal and regulatory bodies demand these issues be addressed. "Firms are now backing up PC data, once a long forgotten and overlooked information asset," said Laura DuBois, program director, Storage Software. "The most prevalent approach is centralized backup software, although legacy approaches still exist." Some organizations (32.5% of those surveyed) continue to rely on individual employees to back up data themselves.

"In the longer term, there is a strategic opportunity for suppliers that integrate PC data and system level protection with security PC management and desktop virtualization," DuBois added. "With IT executives struggling to reduce the cost of PC management, desktop virtualization is certainly an enabling technology that is likely to fuel an even greater focus on data and system level protection for PCs."

Additionally, simplified hardware management is also a viable opportunity as suppliers offering PC protection would benefit from offering systems management capabilities, such as server-level recovery, and tie into centralized enterprise management capabilities for patching, discovery, and maintenance functions for client PCs.

Additional findings from this IDC study
include the following:

• Larger firms are more likely to have deployed a centralized PC backup approach
• Firms are deploying PC backup due to concerns of potential hardware failure as well as to comply with legal or regulatory policies
• Increased penetration of portable PC clients is driving the need for PC backup solutions that must effectively handle protection of data that is in an offline mode as well as connected over WAN links

The IDC special study, Protection and Recovery of PC Data: The Intersection of Desktop Virtualization, Security, and Storage (IDC #221174), is dedicated to understanding the approach firms of different sizes are taking for the protection of corporate PC data and their motivations for doing so. The study also looks at factors causing data loss on PCs and how serious a problem this is perceived to be for firms. The study is based on results drawn from a Web survey completed in October 2009 by 252 qualified IT and business professionals.