WHETHER it’s flooding, power outrages or cyber attacks, businesses in the UK today face a host of different threats to the data on which they rely. The effects of such disasters can be ruinous for small organisations in particular, so I was surprised to see recent research that demonstrated that many small and medium sized companies have yet to recognise the importance of protecting themselves.

The survey revealed that five per cent of small businesses aren’t backing up any of their corporate data. This equates to a staggering 240,000 organisations of this type in the UK.

With a growing reliance on information in business, whether it’s customer information or intellectual property, small and medium businesses in the South West need to protect their critical data just as much as any large enterprise. A simple three step plan can get them on the right road when it comes to disaster preparedness:

• Decide which business systems and resources are critical and need protecting, and don’t wait until after a disaster to think about what should have been done to protect them.

• Use security and backup solutions to archive important files in an on-site and off-site location.

• Test plans frequently to make sure that critical files are being backed up as needed and to ensure that the plan is inline with any changes to the business.

ROSS WALKER

Director of Small Business and Distribution, Symantec UK & Ireland