The importance of having an online backup system for data recovery as a small business in IT has been highlighted by a major British organisation concerned with internet safety.

Tony Neate, the managing director of Get Safe Online, said that smaller enterprises already have "an awful lot on their plates", yet many still have not implemented a third party's help in keeping information secure through either anti-virus protection or disaster recovery.

He explained: "When a company is hit by a virus and they can't get on the internet any longer then that can have a massive impact on businesses, especially as businesses are relying more and more on the internet."

Mr Neate added that particularly when home computers are used by businesses, which may be regularly utilised by other people on a recreational basis for leisure, data saves should be often made, especially through online backup methods.

Get Safe Online is now in its fourth year and is run between the government, Ofcom and the Serious Organised Crime Agency.

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 online backup.