Companies which have invested a lot of money in disaster recovery systems ought to invest a little more in testing them properly, it has been stated.

Speaking to Techworld, Jim Spooner, the UK strategy services manager at Glasshouse Technologies, said that testing is too often overlooked in business.

He said that as a result, many should take some time on a weekend when disruption would be minimal to the business to ensure that they are protecting all sensitive information securely.

Mr Spooner also emphasised the need for people to prioritise the services which they desire to be restored first as "not everything needs to be recovered in four hours".

He added: "Classify what data is important. Some datasets don't require the highest level of recoverability. You must understand different classes of service and how to manage those configurations."

According to the government facility Business Link, all companies should ensure they have disaster recovery systems and to train staff in its basic functions to allow for anyone to make any major restorations.

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 for SMEs to ensure they can survive any disaster.