Schools sitting on data loss timebomb

Research finds that a third of schools lack a data backup and recovery policy

Seven per cent of schools have suffered an IT failure in the last 12 months

Over one third of UK schools are putting their records at risk due to the absence of a full data backup and recovery policy, according to storage management software vendor Acronis.

Research carried out by the vendor found that seven per cent of schools have suffered an IT failure in the last 12 months from which they were unable to recover their data.

Kevin Moreau, general manager at Acronis UK and Ireland, said: “Education organisations are increasing their reliance on IT resources – and therefore increasing the volume of their digital data.

“This means that the chance of a data loss, along with the size, scale and seriousness of a disruption, is rocketing and just like any other organisation, they are vulnerable in the event that their data is wiped by a virus or accidentally erased.”

The survey also found that over half (57 per cent) of the respondents think the credit crunch may impact budgets allocated for their school’s backup and recovery solutions during 2009 – meaning many schools will risk going without data backup and recovery solutions, potentially impacting exam pass rates and schools reputations.

Moreau concluded: “In the current economic climate, education establishments should be seeking software that doubles up to provide efficient data backup and recovery as well as protection from PC viruses.

“With 51 per cent of schools suffering from severe system downtime each year, tools such as disk imaging software provide a cost-effective solution that ensure a secure backup, but also offer the ability to roll back in time to the system’s last ‘good state’, if they are hit by a virus outbreak.”