[January 22, 2015]

HOB Survey Reveals Many Enterprise are Unprepared in the Event of Disaster

HOB, the market leader in pure software-based remote access solutions, today announced the results of a new survey, "An Inside Look at Disaster Recovery Planning", which quantifies employee knowledge and understanding of their organization's emergency procedures in the event of a natural disaster or an epidemic.

"An Inside Look at Disaster Recovery Planning," surveyed 916 employed people in five cities across the United States: Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York and San Francisco. The survey was conducted October 23, 2014-November 4, 2014.

When asked if their place of employment has emergency procedures in place to ensure the security of company information and data, 40 percent of respondents stated their company either does not have systems in place to protect data in an emergency, or they are not aware of the existence of these procedures.

If a plan does exist, the survey also uncovered that 52 percent of employees are unaware of the details of their organization's emergency information plans, and 40 percent state they are unclear about the emergency procedures in place to protect employees. Resourceful employees that are eager to learn about their organization's emergency procedures are largely out of luck - 47 percent state they don't know whom within their company to contact about emergency procedures.

Despite the ubiquitous trend towards a flexible work environment and empowering employees to work remotely, 45 percent of respondents noted they either do not have the ability to access company information that will enable them to work from a safe location following a disaster, or are unaware if they have access.

• Younger employees between the ages of 18 and 29 years old are often the least likely to know if their companies have procedures in place to protect information or employees after a disaster. Employees that are 45 years old or older are most likely to know. Younger employees consistently under-index regarding their knowledge of plans, appropriate contacts, and related information about disaster recovery.
• Despite the importance of information to most businesses and the push toward flexible and mobile work environments, 45 percent of all respondents reported a lack of ability to access company information from offsite locations.
• One-third of respondents state their companies don't have procedures in place to protect employees, or that they are unaware of these procedures.

"For most businesses, access to and the sharing of information is critical to ongoing successful operations," said Klaus Brandstätter, CEO of HOB. "The survey revealed that most companies are unprepared to withstand the negative consequences of disrupted operations, as many employees won't have access to the resources and information needed to remain functional in emergency situations. In today's world with so many unforeseen pending disasters, it is clearly paramount that companies implement comprehensive disaster recovery plans as part of their overall business continuity strategy."

A detailed summary of the disaster recovery survey results is available on the HOB website.

About HOB, Inc.

HOB, Inc. is a fully owned subsidiary of HOB GmbH & Co. KG. It was founded in New Jersey in April 2000 and is currently headquartered in Hawthorne, NY. HOB GmbH & Co. KG is a German medium-sized company, developing innovative and multiply rewarded software solutions that are marketed worldwide. The core competencies of the successful company HOB, founded in 1964, comprise server-based computing, secure remote access, VoIP and virtualization. HOB products are deployed in small, mid-sized and large enterprises. Further, some HOB products are certified according to Common Criteria EAL 4+ by the German Federal Office for Information Security. HOB remote access solutions received the quality mark from TeleTrust "IT Security Made in Germany".

[ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]