It’s the big downtime downturn; according to a new study from Veeam, three in four organisations admit they are not able to meet users’ demands for uninterrupted access to applications and data.

The findings appear in the company’s latest Cloud Data Management Report, which surveyed more than 1,500 senior business and IT leaders across 13 countries. Ultimately, the need for more sophisticated data management is something that Veeam feels as though it is an expert in – the company cites itself as the leader in ‘cloud data management’ – yet the stats are interesting.

In particular, the research found that lost data from mission-critical application downtime costs organisations more than $100,000 per hour on average, while app downtime translates to a cost of $20.1 million globally in lost revenue and productivity.

Evidently, the research has noted how organisations are struggling with their current data management methods. 44% of those polled said more sophisticated data management was critical to their organisation’s success in the coming two years. Four in five respondents said better data management strategies led to greater productivity, while two thirds found greater stability.

Perhaps surprisingly, of those polled, software as a service (SaaS) was not completely saturated; just over three quarters (77%) said they were already using it, with this number set to rise to 93% by the end of 2019. The golden nugget comes from when organisations see the dividend of adopting new technologies; financial benefits come along after nine months on average, with operational benefits arriving after approximately seven months.

“We are living in a data-driven age, and organisations need to wake up and take action to protect their data,” said Ratmir Timashev, Veeam co-founder and EVP sales and marketing. “Businesses must manage their data in a way that always delivers availability and leverage its value to drive performance. This is no longer a luxury, but a business necessity.

“There is a significant opportunity and competitive advantage for those who effectively manage their data,” Timashev added. “Ask yourself – are you confident that your business data will always be available? If you are unsure it’s time to act – and our study shows that many are not acting fast enough.”

You can find out more about the Veeam report here (email required).

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