Storage Managers: Data Security Is Top Concern

Security is the top concern of one-third of 660 storage-management execs surveyed between January and March by IT trade association CompTIA. Management and administration of stored data was the second-highest concern, cited by 17% of respondents, followed by speed of access to stored data (10%) and making data more accessible (8%).

Only 6% of respondents cited compliance with government regulations as the top concern. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, as well as other federal, state, and industry regulations, require the protection of data integrity, availability, and confidentiality.

The need to secure and protect data affects businesses of all sizes, including Richland County Bank, a $105 million asset institution. The bank now creates daily backup tapes; in the event of a disaster, the tapes would be transported to a designated disaster-recovery site, chief technology officer Corey Davis says. The bank is considering supplementing that with a real-time hot-site facility, he says.

The conjunction of information security and storage was one reason Symantec Corp. acquired Veritas Software Corp. last year.