The 2010 study found that nearly half of the data on virtual systems is not regularly backed up and only one in five respondents (one quarter in Australia and New Zealand) use replication and failover technologies to protect virtual environments.

Respondents also indicated that 60% of virtualised servers (47% in Australia and New Zealand) are not covered in current disaster recovery plans.

Symantec says that using multiple tools to manage and protect data in virtual environments cause major difficulties for data center managers. Nearly six in ten respondents who encountered problems protecting mission-critical apps in virtual environments reported this to be a “large challenge” for their organisation.

“We are noticing an increase in the adoption of new technologies such as virtualisation and cloud computing, with the aim of realising cost savings and enhancing disaster recovery efforts. However, businesses have not yet mastered the art of managing data across these environments, leaving mission critical applications and data unprotected,” said Paul Lancaster, director, systems engineer, Pacific, Symantec.

“We recommend that organisations adopt tools that provide a comprehensive solution with a consistent set of policies across all environments. Data Center managers should simplify and standardise so they can focus on best practices that help reduce downtime,” he added.

In terms of cloud computing, security and trust are again main concerns. Two thirds of respondents (94% in Australia and New Zealand) said that security is the main concern when putting applications in the cloud.

The most challenging factor faced when implementing cloud computing and storage is the ability to control failovers and make resources highly available (55 percent globally and 93 percent in Australia and New Zealand).

You can find more information about the 2010 Symantec Disaster Recovery Study here.