Profits could tumble should an organisation not take data protection and online backup seriously, an expert has warned.

Andrew Brewerton, the technical director at BakBone Software, stated that more and more data is becoming "mission critical" to all levels of a company and as such, small businesses in IT need to seriously look into online backup and other data protection methods.

He explained that a survey by his firm found that 20 per cent of respondents would not be able to return to proper operations should such information go offline for over an hour.

Mr Brewerton added: "As companies come to rely on this data, any level of availability will mean the essential business processes are unable to continue - and this often has a direct impact on the revenue of the organisation."

BakBone's study emphasised that while many may not be worried about their information, the fact remains that we are now working on a 24-hour, 365-day scale during which any attack, virus or failure could happen.

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.