6% of all PCs will suffer an episode of data
loss in any given year. Given the number of PCs used in US businesses
in 1998, that translates to approximately 4.6 million data loss
episodes. At a conservative estimate, data loss cost US businesses
$11.8 billion in 1998. (The Cost Of Lost Data, David M. Smith)
30% of all businesses that have a major fire
go out of business within a year. 70% fail within five years.
(Home Office Computing Magazine)
31% of PC users have lost all of their files
due to events beyond their control.
34% of companies fail to test their tape backups,
and of those that do, 77% have found tape back-up failures.
60% of companies that lose their data will
shut down within 6 months of the disaster.
93% of companies that lost their data center
for 10 days or more due to a disaster filed for bankruptcy within
one year of the disaster. 50% of businesses that found themselves
without data management for this same time period filed for bankruptcy
immediately. (National Archives & Records Administration
in Washington)
American businesses lost more than $7.6 billion
as a result of viruses during first six months of 1999. (Research
by Computer Economics)
Companies that aren't able to resume operations
within ten days (of a disaster hit) are not likely to survive.
(Strategic Research Institute)
Simple drive recovery can cost upwards of
$7,500 and success is not guaranteed.
What causes data loss?
Among other causes, data loss can be attributed to system or human
error, adverse environmental conditions and device failure (see below).
Human causes of data loss include intentional or accidental deletion
or overwriting of files. Virus damage, operating system or application
software bugs. Failed upgrades may also cause data loss.
Common physical causes of data loss include power loss or power
surge, overheating, electrostatic discharge and any kind
of physical damage to the storage device or medium.
