Leader: Real disaster recovery involves home working

You would think most companies have built a disaster recovery plan to help them through, should the worst happen - especially given the advances in technology, the rise of the broadband users and changes in business practices.

But according to research from the London Chamber of Commerce (LCC), 55 per cent of firms have no contingency plans for a natural disaster or terrorist attack.

And on top of that most companies are failing to use the technology that enables staff to work from home.

Perhaps companies are too focused on making sure their IT systems are resilient - and forget to make sure their staff are in a position to be able to use them.

Take the example of the floods in India's capital Mumbai, where more than a few outsourcing centres are located. The floods caused people to miss work for three days or more in some cases, hitting companies' ability to provide services.

Firms need to recognise that home working can be a real bonus. There's a very obvious business case. And many staff like it too.

It's all very well having servers backed up in multiple locations but without the staff to work them, they are useless. People make a business work. Technology should support them, not the other way around.

Firms need to consider whether to invest in a model where everyone has the ability to work from home - because, remember, it's not always a catastrophe that will be your undoing. What if the trains break down?

Those companies that have explored home-working might find that, when disaster strikes, staff don't take a paid holiday but actually contribute something to an otherwise bad situation.

And in that case, something is better than nothing.