Serious holes found in SME disaster recovery plans

The majority of small and medium-sized UK businesses are ill-prepared for getting back online in the event of a major disaster, according to the findings of a new survey.

More than two-thirds (68 per cent) of businesses surveyed - all of whom boast an annual revenue of between £1m and £20m - admitted it would take at least two working days to become operational again in a worst case scenario. Furthermore, 12 per cent of respondents said they have no idea how long it would take.

Larger companies with revenue in excess of £20m are better prepared, with 66 per cent confident they would be working again within 24 hours. This is partly down to their ability to handle the cost of redundancy in their network and operations, and the likelihood they may have alternative premises.

The research also discovered a worrying range of what some managers believe constitutes 'prepared'. More than a quarter (26 per cent) of respondents said staff would be instructed to rely on mobile phones if they couldn't come into the office, while 32 per cent would give their staff the day off.

That is despite a report earlier this month into the rescue operation after the 7 July terrorist bombings in London, which criticised the reliance on mobile phones after the mobile networks crashed under the volume of people trying to make calls.

However, 18 per cent believe they could ask staff to log on remotely while 10 per cent would instruct their staff to work from another premises.

The research was commissioned by Mitel Networks and carried out by Continental Research, who quizzed 200 managing directors, financial directors and other senior managers.

Earlier this year silicon.com covered the measures businesses in San Francisco have taken to ensure they would be able to survive another earthquake comparable to 'The Big One' of 1906.