US SMBs to adopt data protection technologies

FRAMINGHAM, USA: The days when small and medium businesses (SMBs) were just burning DVDs from time to time to protect their data are over. SMBs are increasingly adopting technologies like replication or disk-to-disk-to-tape backup, previously seen only in enterprise datacenters, a special report from IDC revealed.

Of course, the SMBs are not ready to adopt enterprise-scale products that might be too complicated and expensive, and over-deliver. They look for solutions appropriate to their needs, which won’t require significant financial and human resources to acquire, deploy, and manage.

Among key findings of IDC’s special report are the following:

* SMBs use diverse methods of data protection.

* Small businesses (SBs) and medium businesses (MBs) differ in their reasons for selecting data protection solutions.

* SBs and MBs differ regarding their future data protection methods.

* Data protection is a big part of storage budgets among SMBs.

"Vendors looking to capitalize on the SMB interest in various data protection technologies need to develop product capabilities and position their offerings with messages important to SMB customers," said Laura DuBois, program director, Storage Software at IDC. "Such messages should focus on how smoothly a product can be integrated into an existing IT environment, what functionality it provides, and how easy the product management is."

"At the same time, education of end users and channel partners about return on investment and potential cost savings will be critical for breaking through the 'pricing is too high' concern," added Natalya Yezhkova, research manager for Storage Systems at IDC. "This is especially true when price savings are less obvious, as with online services. Vendors need to teach end users to look at the whole picture that involves all the different types of expenses associated with different approaches to data protection, including intangible benefits like the ability to restore data quickly in a case of failure."

IDC's special report, Data Protection in United States SMBs: Opportunity and Analysis, analyzes SMB interests in, requirements, and purchasing behavior for data protection. It also assesses the extent and nature of the US SMB opportunity. The report is based on a user survey that investigated the current and planned data protection environments for firms of different sizes.