A hardware failure is more likely than anything to disrupt a firm's IT operations, a new survey has found.

ITWeek reports the findings of research by SunGard Availability Services which found that 35 per cent of serious IT outages are caused by a hardware failure.

It also found that power failures (22 per cent) denial of access (seven per cent) and data corruption (five per cent) are causes of major disruption.

Natural disasters such as flooding and outbreaks of foot and mouth disease were also mentioned.

Speaking to the website, SunGard's chief executive president for the UK said: "Hardware failure can be potentially devastating in terms of business impact, but is relatively straightforward to plan around.

"The fact that it remains the number one reason for invocation indicates that our message - information availability should be considered at the highest levels of the organisation - has not yet got through."

Anyone concerned about data loss or IT systems failure might wish to develop a disaster recovery plan in case the worst happens.

Last week, the Information Commissioner's office warned that firms which fail to safeguard data could lose customers.

New research from Connect found that, on average, it takes businesses that use backup tapes take 11.6 hours to retrieve and restore files. Connect is now recommending that SMEs switch to www.totalrecall.co.uk