Business continuity planning should not be just a concern for bigger businesses, it has been claimed.

It should not be a "knee-jerk reaction" either and business continuity plans, which may include disaster recovery solutions, should be a part of every company's strategy, suggested head of Eclipse Internet business sales Mark Thomas.

Talking about the recent swine flu scare, Mr Thomas said: "The current pandemic has highlighted one element of this threat, where movement could be restricted with many staff unable to get to work. But there are other risks, such as fire, flood or theft."

He asserted that businesses in the UK have become highly reliant on information and communication technologies for everyday operations, adding that every company can put measures in place to protect themselves from risks.

Gartner suggested earlier this year that a swine flu pandemic could potentially mean absenteeism rates will reach 40 per cent or higher for companies and their business partners and suppliers.

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.