IT graduates might lack the skills to deal with business continuity issues, it has been claimed.

According to ITPro.co.uk, a study conducted by SteelEye Technology, found that 61 per cent of respondents believe that IT courses do not prepare people for implementing business continuity solutions, raising the prospect that firms might want to outsource such matters.

Bob Williamson, vice-president of SteelEye Technology told the website: "It's very clear that there's a skills gap that needs to be addressed when it comes to the expertise needed to assure business continuity."

He added that Universities and graduate programmes need to change their courses to make sure they are keeping pace with IT challenges.

On Monday, Computerweekly.com reported the findings of a Kroll Ontrack study which found that 75 per cent of firms do not have a disaster recovery plan.

A recent survey for Connect found that one in ten companies has lost important data as a result of a backup failure. The company has now developed a unique online backup service - http://www.totalrecall.co.uk – for SMEs to ensure they can survive any disaster