Seagate Research Reveals Nearly Half of Australian Small Businesses Have Lost Work Due to Not Backing Up Effectively

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA — August 20, 2014 — Seagate Technology plc (NASDAQ: STX) today announced research which revealed that half of Australian small businesses surveyed had lost work due to not backing up files, documents and work effectively. The rationale given for not backing up was most commonly attributed to lack of time (38 percent) and confusion around the technology itself (20 percent)[1].

This failure to effectively back up work is costing the average Australian business between three and 10 percent of revenue; and damaging reputation, which is the lifeblood of a small business.

These insights reveal the importance of best practice in data protection for small businesses as client data and files are critical to the survival of small companies.

A surprising 13 percent of respondents admitted that they backed up work to an internal computer drive, exposing them to the possibility of significant data loss and while 55 percent of respondents reported backing up to an external drive that they plug into the computer, none of these respondents had a comprehensive backup plan for all office devices.

The good news is that nearly 50 percent of businesses surveyed are considering upgrading to a Network Attached Storage (NAS) solution to protect their business from future data loss.

BanSeng Teh, senior vice president and managing director of Seagate Asia Pacific and Japan commented “It is fascinating to see that so many businesses are relying on the hope that their technology will not fail them when simple and cost effective solutions can be put in place to help support their growth and ultimate survival without the need for dedicated IT resources. We’re keen to educate small business on how to improve their IT practices and hopefully this research will provide a timely reminder for them to develop best practice data protection solutions.”

The research comes as Seagate announced the introduction of a new portfolio of Networked Attached Storage (NAS) solutions to the Australian market specifically designed for today’s small businesses. The new portfolio includes five NAS products in a range of capacities from 2TB to 24TB and performance perfectly suited for the home office to small businesses with up to 50 employees The Seagate NAS and NAS Pro lines set the standard for ease-of-use by introducing a new intuitive operating system, NAS OS 4, together with hardware specifically designed for small businesses without dedicated IT resources.

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[1] The survey was fielded between 26 July and 5 August 2014. Seagate has commissioned Cint to survey 250 small businesses in Australia All respondents were IT decision makers in company sizes between 1 and 50 people.