In July, JPY embarked on an investigation into the backup habits of the nation. The good news is, more people than we imagined actually do back things up. The bad news is, if you have a Mac or a Linux box on your network, the likelihood of getting all your data backed up plummets.

Also, the methods of securing data vary whether you use a Mac or a PC. Mac people are often forced to go the DIY route, making backup copies to CD or DVD manually. PC people tend to let the Systems Administrators take care of things, and are automatically secured. Almost half PC users reported that 100 percent of the machines on the network are backed up. In mixed platform environments, users reported just 25 percent success at backing up 100 percent of the network.

Of course at JPY, we understand why the Mac and Linux equation works the way it does. There are precious few products that really "understand" professional backup solutions for all platforms. Fortunately Archiware PresSTORE is just such a product. Treating all platforms with the same respect and capabilities, PresSTORE automates network backup regardless of your OS.

The survey showed lots of examples of machines being left out in the cold. Windows based archive and backup rarely does as good a job for Mac of Unix users. Hence the tendency for ad hoc solutions like CDs.

One positive note about the non-Windows users, they are a lot more independent than the PC people. Almost 60 per cent of PC users would require the help of the IT staff to retrieve lost work. In contrast, only 14 percent of Mac users would bother the IT department, with a whopping 82 percent would be able to sort the problem out themselves.

If your backup is failing the less mainstream platforms, JPY would be happy to demonstrate the power and versatility of Archiware PresSTORE.