Introduction
In late 2023, an independent research firm surveyed 1,200 IT leaders and implementers on a wide range of their data protection challenges and strategies. This is the fifth annual release of the Data Protection Trends report in its current methodology* to quantify the challenges and drivers of the data protection industry, always using analyst and research firms to garner an impartial understanding of how data protection must continue to evolve.
2024 is starting off with IT teams having an interest in changing solutions and their own roles, which will either radically improve their cyber preparedness and compliance postures or further widen the expectations between what business units are expecting and what IT is able to deliver.
2024 is Another Year for Changing Solutions
For the second year in a row, over half of organizations anticipate changing their primary backup solution. It is notable that while the intent to change remains high and consistent (54% for 2024 vs 57% for 2023), there is a growing percentage of those remaining with the status quo (8% not intending to change in 2023 vs. 27% in 2024). It is worth noting that one could consider changing from a self-managed solution to managed service (offering the same backup software), as well as changing technologies or vendors. In any case, it will be another year of change. Perhaps this is not surprising considering:
85% of organizations recognize an ‘Availability Gap’ between how fast they could recover versus what the business processes require. 76% of organizations recognize a ‘Protection Gap’ between how much data they could afford to lose and how often their data is protected