The Gartner survey also showed that IT managers are becoming more comfortable with using managed storage services to copy data off-site. Over the past two years, Couture said, 30 percent to 40 percent of IT managers surveyed indicated that they would never use a third-party service provider. But in the most recent survey, that number had plummeted to 6 percent.

Gartner's poll also showed that data security is becoming a priority for IT managers, following numerous highly publicized data-loss incidents this year. Indeed, 55 percent of those surveyed said they encrypt all backup files, and 50 percent said they will review internal policies for access to backup data.

"One of the advantages of using a service provider for remote backup service is that they encrypt everything before it's sent -- and, of course, nobody is touching a physical tape or putting it on the truck," Couture said.