Businesses in the UK are "missing the benefits" of new technology, an expert has said.

In a sense, technology is something which is taken for granted, according to John Dunsmure, managing director of the British Chambers of Commerce.

"Technology can be used to become smarter, to be more customer-orientated in what we do," he suggested.

Mr Dunsmure also pointed out that technology can bring benefits of flexibility to an organisation, giving the example of employees being able to work remotely, either from home or in the field.

In terms of business continuity during the economic downturn, he added that technology can "make a huge difference" in that it may enable firms to develop smarter ways of working.

According to research carried out earlier this year for Dell by Tickbox.net/Opinion Matters, 44 per cent of people go to the internet for business advice.

However, more than three-quarters of respondents said they would be interested if there was more relevant business programming aimed at small businesses online.

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.