Survey of Small Business for Citrix Online

A new survey conducted by the polling company, inc. on behalf of Citrix Online finds that most of America's small businesses do not have a business continuity plan in place.

N= 350 decision-makers for small businesses
Margin of Error +/- 5.3%
Field Dates: November 7-16, 2005

A. To begin, would you describe your company’s primary workspace as a residential/ home office or a commercial office space? (Respondents who work in residential/ home offices were terminated.)

 100% A COMMERCIAL OFFICE SPACE

B. How many full-time employees currently work at your company? (READ LIST) (Businesses with 0-4 employees were terminated.)

80% 5-24 (NET)
43% 5-9
 24% 10-15
 13% 16-24

 20% 25-100 (NET)
 13% 25-50
   4% 51-75
   3% 76-100

C. On a scale of one to ten with one being “not at all influential,” and ten being “extremely influential,” how influential would you say you are in making the technological, hardware, software and computer decisions for your company?  (Respondents who answered 1-4 were terminated from participating in the survey)  
 
38% SOMEWHAT INFLUENTIAL (NET)
 34% 5 SOMEWHAT INFLUENTIAL
  4% 6

 22% VERY INFLUENTIAL (NET)
   7% 7
 15% 8

 40% EXTREMELY INFLUENTIAL (NET)
  6% 9
 34% 10 EXTREMELY INFLUENTIAL
 
D. Which of the following best describes your current title? (READ LIST)
 
 27% EXECUTIVE/ CEO/ PRESIDENT
 5% CFO/ COO/ CMO
 7% VICE PRESIDENT
44% MANAGER/ DIRECTOR
  5% ASSOCIATE
11% ASSISTANT   
   1% COMPUTER TECHNICIAN/ IT/SYSTEMS SUPPORT

BUSINESS CONTINUITY

1. “Business continuity” is defined as the ability of a small company to continue to operate after an unforeseen event such as severe weather, fire damage, or a terrorist attack.  This often requires the use of computer technology and tools designed to allow employees to work from home. To the best of your knowledge, does your company currently have a business continuity plan like this?

31% YES
65% NO

 3% UNSURE/ DO NOT KNOW (VOLUNTEERED)
 * REFUSED (VOLUNTEERED)

2. On a scale of one to ten with one being “not at all important” and ten being “extremely important,” how important is it for your company to have a business continuity plan?

45% LOW IMPORTANCE (NET)
33% NOT AT ALL IMPORTANT
 7% 2
 5% 3

23% MEDIUM IMPORTANCE (NET)
 3% 4
13% 5
 4% 6
 3% 7

32% HIGH IMPORTANCE (NET)
11% 8
 3% 9
18% 10 EXTREMELY IMPORTANT

* DO NOT KNOW (VOLUNTEERED)
- REFUSED (VOLUNTEERED)

3. Compared to five years ago, would you say that a business continuity plan (ROTATED) is more important, less important, or about the same level of importance this year as it was five years ago?

34% MORE IMPORTANT
56% ABOUT THE SAME LEVEL OF IMPORTANCE
 4% LESS IMPORTANT

 5% DO NOT KNOW (VOLUNTEERED)
 1% REFUSED (VOLUNTEERED)

4. And why, specifically, would you say that business continuity planning is (INSERT RESPONSE FROM Q. 8) than it was five years ago? (OPEN-ENDED, RECORD VERBATIM, IF RESPONDENT SAYS “I don’t know,” ASK, “What has changed or occurred over<