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. As a data recovery professional, I know how data is important to companies and individuals and the consequences that they are likely to face in the event of a loss.

 

Data Loss - The Reality

 

In a recent survey conducted across companies on the value that these companies would associate with a data loss, the following results were published:

 

·          About 90-95% of the companies that lost their data for about 10 days or more due to a catastrophe or a debacle filed for bankruptcy within a year. Of these companies, those that did not have a sound data management system, filed for bankruptcy immediately.

 

In another survey that questioned companies about the cost incurred by them per hour owing to a downtime, the following results were published:

 

·          About 45-50% of the companies said that it would cost them anywhere up to $50,000.

 

·          About 25-30% of the companies stated that it could cost them anywhere between $51,000 and $250,000.

 

·          About 15-20% of the companies stated that they lose between $251,000 and $1 million.

 

·          Around 5-10% said that they lose more than $1 million.

 

On asked further as to at what point does data loss threaten the very survival of a business, businesses furnished the following results:

 

·          35-45% of the companies said 72 hours.

 

·          20-25% said 48 hours.

 

·          10-20% said 24 hours.

 

·          8% said 8 hours.

 

·          9% stated it as 4 hours.

 

·          3% stated it as 1 hour.

 

·          4% stated it as within 1 hour.

 

All the above stated facts are subjective and specific to individual users and companies. To an extent, we can assume that the above data is speculative. Each individual or organization attaches a special amount of importance to their data and we cannot underestimate at any given point in time.

 

Consequence of Data Loss

 

Data loss can have serious consequences across various sectors.

 

In the financial sector, all transactions are recorded in digital form. When a data loss happens, it would become impossible for a bank or a private lending firm to keep track of all the customers. Even a temporary loss of data could become catastrophic to the business.  Unless the company maintains multiple backups of records, data loss could lead to closing down of the financial institution.

 

Companies invest a lot of time and money in Research and Development to keep up with the latest technology. When a data loss happens, this could mean hours and hours of work going to the trash. It could even mean starting all your research and development work from start. Some of the verticals where R&D data is valued more are that of the pharmaceutical and chemical industry.

 

Defence is one other such area where data is of very high value. A lot of effort is actually driven towards creation of weapons. Data loss due to data theft can prove to be even more dangerous. If this data enters into the wrong hands, it could even mean the destruction of the world.

 

Every year companies around the world spend money in millions towards engineering design. They spend immensely on research and development in creation of new engineering designs. With such high amount of importance attached to the data, it is mandatory that they secure the data in all aspects. Again here, data loss due to data theft can prove to be hazardous. If this data were to land into your competitors’ hands, you can be sure that your business would run into ruins.

 

While we keep talking about data loss with large corporation and the government, an equal price is being paid by individuals on a small scale. The value of the data need not necessarily have a monetary value attached to it. It could also be the loss of data which stood as a symbol of precious memory. Everyday data recovery companies receive a large number of requests from individuals to recover valuable data from broken hard drives, memory sticks, pen drives and compact discs.

 

The Final Word

 

Data backup is the best solution to data loss problems. It is better to have multiple backups of important data on different media and preferably stored at different locations. There are third party companies which provide these data backup services. So, backup your data today and save your business from the unnecessary pitfalls.  All the best!