Barracuda Study: Remote Working Increases Data Backup Requirements. Opinion barometer reveals companies' uncertainties when it comes to protecting increasing Office 365 data. The majority of German participants would like a backup solution with unlimited storage space
In a recent study, Barracuda, a leading provider of cloud-enabled security solutions, asked over 1.800 IT decision-makers worldwide - including 200 from Germany - about their opinions and perspectives on Office 365, data security, backup and recovery, and SaaS solutions. The study entitled “The state of Office 365 backup” shows one thing above all: the shift of work to the home office or generally to external sites since the beginning of the pandemic has made a lot of demands on corporate IT when it comes to protecting increasing Office 365 data. For example, 67 percent of organizations still rely solely on the service's built-in capabilities to back up and restore Office 365 data. In Germany it is still 60 percent.
Key results of the survey
- 52 percent (Germany: 47 percent) of IT decision-makers say that their organization has experienced a ransomware attack.
- 67 percent of companies (Germany: 60 percent) still rely exclusively on the functions integrated in Office 365 for backing up and restoring Office 365 data.
- 80 percent (Germany: 80 percent) of those surveyed would like a backup solution for Microsoft teams and file sharing.
Trust is good, control is better
Only around a third of the Office 365 users surveyed had implemented a third-party backup solution. 67 percent still rely solely on the certain system-related data storage integrated by Microsoft. 60 percent of the German participants admitted that. Although the Redmond-based company recommends using third-party backup solutions, as the company only guarantees the availability of its service, but not the storage of the data.
Other important results
- 72 percent (Germany: 67 percent) of the respondents are concerned that their Office 365 data could be the target of ransomware.
- 77 percent (Germany: 80 percent) of IT decision-makers agree that a granular recovery of Exchange, SharePoint, OneDrive and Teams is important to them.
- 79 percent (Germany: 76 percent) would like to be able to restore mailboxes in a different location or under a different user.
- 69 percent (Germany: 68 percent) of the respondents are concerned that data will be stored outside of their country (geo residency).
- 74 percent of the companies surveyed (Germany: 70 percent) prefer a SaaS solution that they can put into operation quickly and easily.
- 74 percent (Germany: 70 percent) of the IT decision-makers surveyed state that SaaS backup for Office 365 - i.e. no hardware or software that needs to be maintained - is important to them.
Data protection plays a role for the respondents in terms of security and regulation. 73 percent of IT decision-makers expressed their concerns about compliance with data protection requirements; in Germany it was 70 percent.
Remote work without notice
"The rapid switch to remote work last year and the associated use of SharePoint, OneDrive and Teams, for example, made protecting Office 365 data a major challenge for companies," says Tim Jefferson, SVP, Engineering for Data, Networks and Application Security, Barracuda. "That's why companies are looking for comprehensive, easy-to-use backup solutions that are quick to use and offer functions such as granular data storage / retention of e-mails / data management that are not included in the native functions of Microsoft."
Study details
The survey conducted by the independent market researcher Censuswide in January 2021 includes responses from 1.828 executives, employees and team leaders who are responsible for their company's cloud infrastructure. They came from organizations in companies with a workforce of 50 or more in the EMEA, US, and APAC regions. In Germany, Barracuda interviewed 200 IT decision-makers in companies with over 50 employees.
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Via Barracuda Networks Striving to make the world a safer place, Barracuda believes that every business should have access to cloud-enabled, enterprise-wide security solutions that are easy to purchase, implement and use. Barracuda protects email, networks, data and applications with innovative solutions that grow and adapt as the customer journey progresses. More than 150.000 companies worldwide trust Barracuda to help them focus on growing their business. For more information, visit www.barracuda.com.