Survey: Can data protection keep pace with the shifting landscape?
In an evolving technological landscape, enterprise IT leaders are grappling with unprecedented challenges in data protection and governance, driven by the rapid adoption of cloud applications and generative AI. Foundry's survey: “Can data protection keep pace with the shifting landscape?” underscores this trend.
The respondents of the survey represent IT decision-makers from companies with over 1,000 global employees.
Data protection strategies
While 70% of respondents report that their financial applications are covered by data protection strategies, a significant portion of other key systems and custom applications remain vulnerable.
- Financial systems: 70% are covered by data protection strategies.
- E-commerce and HR Management Systems: 50% are covered.
- CRM and ERP systems: 48% and 42% respectively.
- Critical transaction-based systems, custom applications, and collaboration and productivity tools: Are lagging with only between a third and a quarter of systems covered.
Strategic gaps and vulnerabilities
The survey reveals that only half of the organizations have incorporated cloud-stored SaaS data into their disaster recovery plans. Another 40% plan to address this gap soon. The current state of data protection is seen as a significant barrier to expanding the use of generative AI technologies.
Strategic gaps:
- Critical SaaS data applications: 50% of respondents have included data cloud-stored in critical SaaS applications in their disaster recovery plans, and 40% plan to do so.
- AI data protection: Nearly all organizations prioritize AI data protection, with 52% already implementing tools for chatbots and AI platforms and 43% considering them.
Compliance and future proofing
Compliance is a top concern for 73% of survey respondents heading into 2024, with data governance (53%) and enterprise backup and recovery (45%) also ranking high. Regulatory scrutiny is increasing globally, with mandates from agencies like the SEC in the US and the upcoming Digital Operational Resiliency Act (DORA) in the EU.
Compliance challenges:
- Regulatory mandates: New cybersecurity resilience requirements.
- Cybersecurity risks: Continued threats, notably ransomware.
The survey was commissioned by Keepit.