Small businesses in IT may want to consider their options when it comes to their adoption of software in the near future, with one company highlighting major problems following the tube strike.

Citrix Online carried out a poll to find that 34 per cent of adults in the capital were disrupted in their working routine during the 48-hour strike on the London Underground.

It resulted in up to 5.2 million hours wasted collectively, the firm asserted, highlighting the need for cloud computing or virtualised software to keep a business going.

Bernardo de Albergaria, vice-president and general manager at Citrix Online, said businesses in the capital have trouble trusting employees with such technological set-ups, though business continuity is majorly affected by the lack of IT support the workers have on their home computers.

He continued: "With the right technologies in place, it is easy for businesses to enable their employees to work from any web-connected computer and still access all the emails and files in the office, as if they were there in person."

The strike was held by the Rail, Maritime and Transport union following a dispute over job safety and pay.

More than half of small businesses (53 per cent) believe that the most important benefit of outsourcing is guaranteed response times for IT support. London-based Connect conducted the research in 2007.