The Real Costs of Data Loss

Backing up data might not seem like a high priority or a particularly exciting business decision, but it’s essential. If you’re utilizing SaaS cloud-based systems, like Microsoft 365 or Google Workspaces, you should be backing up your data. In fact, a 2018 study found the global average cost of data loss was around $3.6 million, or approximately $141 per data record. Backing up your SaaS data should be a standard protocol; it helps ensure the safety and data in the event of any kind of disaster.

If you aren’t convinced, read on to learn about the real costs of data loss–and how they could damage your company.

Risks and Hazards of Data Loss

Your data is precious, but it is also vulnerable. There are a number of risks and hazards that could result in costly data loss. If you don’t have a set backup plan in place, your data could be exposed to the following risks and hazards:

1. Natural Disasters: Events like hurricanes, earthquakes, and tornadoes can pose a risk to your data. If you live in an area prone to any kind of natural disaster, it’s critical you have a backup plan in place. Power outages caused by natural disasters can leave you unable to access your data for hundreds of hours. For example, Hurricane Rita, which hit Texas in 2005 resulted in 384 hours of no power. Disaster recovery plans vary based on cost and company size but can exceed $10,000 if a company has high losses during downtime.

2. Human Error: Unfortunately, human error is the leading cause of data loss. Accidental deletion or lack of understanding of an interface can result in data loss. Without backup measures in place, when data is deleted, there’s no getting it back. In 2018, 90 percent of data breaches and losses were a result of human error.

3. Cybercrime: Hackers, malware, and ransomware are other huge risks companies face in protecting their data. Not only are malicious attacks common, but they are also the most expensive kind of data breach. The average data breach in the U.S. in 2020 cost $8.64 million. In the same year, around 52 percent of data breaches were caused by malicious attacks.

4. Provider Outages: Dealing with unexpected provider outages can lead to data loss, especially when you’re in the middle of working on a file. Providers like Microsoft and Google continue to have their share of outages, leaving users without access to their data for hours on end. These outages are costly: it’s estimated that data loss from data center outages costs U.S. businesses an average of $7,900 per minute.

5. Inability to Access Data: For whatever reason, you’re unable to access data, companies lose out on productivity during downtime. Datto reported that depending on a company’s size, downtime costs can range from $10,000 per hour to more than $5 million per hour.

Read on to learn how each of these hazards contributes to data loss and expensive recovery costs.