Number of mission-critical applications rises

The results of the annual Symantec Disaster Recovery survey shows a significant decline in executive involvement in disaster recovery planning and a significant increase in the number of organisations reevaluating their disaster recovery plans due to virtualisation. As more applications and data are managed in a virtual environment, organisations are evaluating the most efficient ways to manage applications and data in both physical and virtual environments.

The survey found that nearly one-third of organisations reported they have had to implement part of their DR plan. However, in the past year there was a significant decrease in executive involvement on DR committees. And, while there appears to be improvement in successful disaster recovery testing, one-third of respondents indicate testing will impact their customers, and one-fifth admit such testing could negatively affect their organization’s sales and revenue.

With a rapid increase in mission critical applications combined with the continued growth of stored data – both physical and virtual – it is crucial that IT organisations incorporate a comprehensive, proven disaster recovery plan into the overall business strategy. Although 56% of applications were deemed mission critical by respondents – significantly up from 36% in 2007 – only 54% of all applications are covered by DR plans. With the increase in the number of mission critical applications, it becomes difficult for organisations with flat IT budgets to maintain the availability of a greater number of mission critical applications.