Online Backup Survey: 94% of Computer Users Risk Data Loss

In previous surveys we have seen the number of "at risk" people trending downward. However, this year the number of people not backing up their computer has increased. Worse yet, fewer people backed up "Daily or more", "Weekly or more", and "Monthly or more."

Percent of Respondents Who Backup Computer Data

2011___2010___2009___2008
7%_____8%____6%____6% Backup Daily or More           
14%____15%___14%___13% Backup Weekly or More   
27%____30%___27%___26% Backup Monthly or More   

While the previous trend showed people increasingly backing up their computers, the number going down is very interesting. Today, people have more data to protect; external hard drive prices continue to plummet enabling lower-cost local backups; and online backup services are booming. So, how is it possible that fewer users are backing up their data?

The survey does not provide many answers. One theory is people are purchasing more computers and not backing up all of them. A second theory is that people are entrusting their data more to the cloud. There are probably a lot of theories as to what may have caused this slight dip in people backing up their data. In any case, we are looking forward to the results of next year's survey to see if the slight downturn is a trend or a one-year anomaly.

As always, Backblaze recommends that you backup your computer in order to ensure that your personal and professional data is safe and secure! Backblaze provides an unlimited online backup service for only $5 per month. You can be backing up in under 5 minutes by trying Backblaze for free at www.backblaze.com.

About Backblaze
Founded by a team of serial entrepreneurs with security, scalability, usability backgrounds, and located in the heart of Silicon Valley, Backblaze's mission is to ensure that all computer data is backed up. Backblaze was selected as a winner of the AlwaysOn Global Top 250 private companies for game-changing technology and market value. Backblaze provides a free trial and automatically backs up all data for just $5 per month per computer. Visit www.backblaze.com for more information or to backup your own computer

These surveys were conducted online within the United States by Harris Interactive on behalf of Backblaze June 28-30, 2011 among 2257 respondents, June 3-7, 2010 among 2071 respondents, May 13-14, 2009 among 2,185 respondents, and May 27-29, 2008 among 2,761 respondents. In all surveys, respondents consisted of U.S. adult computer users (aged 18+), weighted to the U.S. adult population of computer users. No estimates of theoretical sampling error can be calculated; a full methodology is available.