Data losses costs South African businesses over R3bn according to EMC

Johannesburg – Data loss costs South African businesses over R3bn according to technology storage and hardware solutions firm EMC.

Data loss involves computer information being destroyed by the likes of human error, file corruption or theft.

And EMC this month has revealed its Data Protection Index which ranks 24 countries on the maturity of their data protection strategies and assesses the preparedness of their businesses.

EMC said it interviewed 3 300 IT decision-makers in 24 countries across the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific Japan.

Worldwide results of the research indicate that 62% of respondents said at least one of the following – big data, hybrid cloud or mobile devices – is ‘difficult’ or ‘very difficult’ to protect.

Meanwhile, EMC also said that 87% of worldwide businesses are “behind the curve for data protection maturity” and “71% of businesses are not fully confident of restoring their data”.

“The survey reveals that while business impact from data loss and downtime remains staggering, a vast majority of businesses are behind the curve in the maturity of their data protection strategies,” said EMC in its report.

South Africa ranks seventh in the Data Protection Index ahead of Mexico, Indonesia and Germany but behind India, the US and Singapore. China ranks number one in the index.

South Africa, though, has still suffered over R3bn in data losses, according to the study.

View an infographic of the index below:

Read original article on Fin24.com