A startlingly large percentage of organisations in the UK and the rest of the world are lacking in disaster recovery initiatives such as online data backup, according to a recent study.

The research, carried out by Symantec, found that while many of them may show confidence in regard to their capabilities, a surprisingly large amount still manages to show a very unprepared response to any outages caused by a variety of factors.

Following the study, the organisation explained: "Furthermore, Symantec discovered that there are large, tangible costs to this lack of preparedness. Small and medium-sized businesses can - and often do - lose business as a direct result of being unprepared for disasters."

However, the company insisted that simple and effective measures - such as regularly testing the disaster recovery facility - can help to retain customers despite any issues that they may come up against.

Engaging trusted advisors, determining needs of the plan and automating the process where possible can also help, Symantec added.

According to government source Business Link, it is best practice to give one person the main responsibility for backing data up and designating a second to cover for any absences.

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.