Symantec Business Customers Send Their Data Backups to the Cloud

February 2, 2009

Symantec Online Backup provides secure, reliable backups while reducing IT costs

CUPERTINO, Calif. - Jan. 27, 2009 - Symantec Corp. (Nasdaq: SYMC) today announced that Cameron Consultation, mmolecule and Stratis Business Systems, Inc. have implemented Symantec Online Backup to protect their business records while reducing the time and money spent managing backups. With Symantec's Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) online backup application, these small and mid-sized businesses are confident that their data is protected against catastrophic loss while remaining easily recoverable.

Symantec Online Backup provides businesses with secure, affordable backup and recovery for PCs and servers over the Internet. Businesses using Symantec Online Backup eliminate the need to purchase and manage on-site hardware and receive increased protection from theft and disasters. Data is automatically stored off-site in multiple geographically distributed data centers and can be restored to any location using a supported web browser. The service is hosted in the cloud by Symantec, eliminating the need for businesses to devote resources to managing patches and upgrades. The customer subscription includes 24x7 support, delivered by a dedicated team of SaaS specialists at no extra cost.

Cameron Consultation

Cameron Consultation, based outside Boston, provides intensive therapeutic intervention to children with autism and other special needs. Cameron recently lived the nightmare of discovering 20 years worth of its intellectual property and client records were lost after two hard drives failed and the supposed automatic nightly backups had not been performed for more than a year. The company spent six weeks and thousands of dollars to recover some - but not all - of its lost records, and has since turned to Symantec Online Backup to create dependable backups while reducing the time and cost spent doing so.

"Knowing that Symantec is storing my data in more than one location makes me confident it will be there if I ever need it," said Susan Shea Cameron, Ed.S., BCBA, clinical director and partner, Cameron Consultation. "The plan I'm using is not much more expensive than buying an external hard drive that has only a 30-day warranty and backup software. Symantec Online Backup gives me much more peace of mind. The system sends me an email to confirm that a backup was successful, and when I get the alert I feel relieved that there is one less thing for me to worry about."

mmolecule

mmolecule is a web-based services company dedicated to enhancing the gaming experience for Massively Multiplayer Online (MMO) game players. The company's wide range of online services, including seven game portals, a customized social network, real-time news updates, original articles, and reviews, makes it a premier resource in the MMO gaming community. mmolecule uses Symantec Online Backup to protect more than 50 gigabytes of customer data, the lifeblood of the company.

"Gamers store their important game data and videos on mmolecule's site, so protecting our customers' data is a top priority," said Bryce Ashey, chief executive officer, mmolecule, Inc. "We needed a cost-effective backup solution that would scale with a flip-of-the-switch and without procurement or set up. For the cost of a USB drive, Symantec Online Backup handles backup automatically and the data is available online when we need it."

Stratis Business Systems, Inc.

Founded in 1999, Stratis Business Systems, Inc. develops innovative software that enables home care, home health and staffing agencies to perform their operations management, scheduling and billing. As the company continued its rapid growth, it needed to devote the time it was spending on backing up data to managing its success instead. It chose Symantec Online Backup and realized benefits instantly.

"Backup is continuous, and that's a big draw for me versus the kind of batch online backup I saw from other vendors," said Justin Jugs, vice president of systems implementation, Stratis Business Systems, Inc. "Symantec Online Backup runs in the background and has no impact on our day-to-day operations. Restoring a file from tape used to be cumbersome. Now recovery takes seconds if it's a small file, a couple minutes if it's large. To be honest, I'd probably pay more for this solution. What we pay is minimal for what you get. Symantec Online Backup is a no-brainer in some respects."

An independent study finds that small and medium businesses (SMB) rate backup as their second-highest computing priority, after defense against viruses and other malware, and ahead of issues such as reducing costs and deploying new computers. However, the survey sponsored by Symantec and conducted by Rubicon Consulting found that 50 percent of small and mid-sized businesses have still experienced data loss and more than half do not store backup data off-site.

"There are a number of online backup applications in the market now, and moving sensitive business records online creates security concerns an organization must be aware of before partnering with a provider," said Darren Niller, group product manager, Symantec. "Failure to provide adequate levels of security enables attackers to read and even change the data being backed up or restored when it's transmitted over the Internet. As a market leader in security, disaster recovery and data protection, we've focused intensively on making sure our online backup service is highly reliable and secure."

About Symantec

Symantec is a global leader in providing security, storage and systems management solutions to help consumers and organizations secure and manage their information-driven world. Our software and services protect against more risks at more points, more completely and efficiently, enabling confidence wherever information is used or stored. More information is available at www.symantec.com.

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