All computers can be prone to a disaster, and as such businesses should look into disaster recovery - providing they make sure they know what they are getting into, it has been reported.

Howard Marks of InformationWeek said that mid-sized businesses were most susceptible to disasters as fewer products were available to them, with smaller companies using "ad hoc" measures and larger firms utilising specialised systems.

It is all down to how much information could be lost, he continued, adding that companies must consider how long they can wait before having a restoration of functionality.

Mr Marks said: "Increasing midsize business preparedness means using new technologies that are changing the game for disaster recovery, but it also requires spending time classifying applications and managing expectations for the recovery process."

According to the Contingency Planning Guide, a company should prepare a list of potentially serious incidents that could affect an operation, as well as probability of such an event occurring.

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.connect.co.uk/services/online_backup.