New research from the NCC Group has revealed that only 41% of CIOs are offered contingency plans by their cloud providers.
Typically, contingency plans ensure that the end user organisation can retrieve its data and maintain application access in case of any cloud provider issues. These plans range from keeping regular backups to contractual agreements and data extraction plans.
However, according to the new white paper, SaaS and the Enterprise Perception, many had to explicitly request contingency measures (43%) due to providers not being forthcoming.
It was also found that 8% have adopted cloud services from providers that didn’t provide any contingency plan at all. The risk here is that without a plan in place, organisations could find themselves losing data.
Of the 100 CIOs surveyed, only 32% stated that they have a contractual contingency and 48% have a general plan in place.
Daniel Liptrott, managing director of NCC Group’s escrow division said: "There’s fierce competition in the SaaS market, and providers need to pull out all the stops to convince organisations to invest in their product. But those that don’t see contingency as a key selling point and potential differentiator are missing a trick."
"We know that organisations can be hesitant to step into the cloud, particularly with certain elements of their IT estate. But a clear and coherent plan which ensures the lights will stay on if the worst happens will convince many CIOs to make the jump much more readily."
