Some 55 per cent of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) do not take any measures to back-up their data, new research reveals.

A study by Unicom indicates that those firms that do take these measures use a range of different methods to do so, Computer Weekly reports.

A total of five per cent of SMEs reported using tape storage, six per cent used online resources, 14 per cent used a separate computer and 20 per cent described "another method" of backing up data.

Chris Earle, operations director at Unicom, said it was "hair-raising" to think of firms taking no steps to back-up information.

"All it takes is a power surge, a hardware failure, a software glitch, a break-in or even a wrong click of a mouse and every single piece of information relating to accounts, tax, personnel, sales, customers and stock can be lost for good," he remarked, according to the news provider.

A recent survey by BSI British Standards found that 71 per cent of UK companies believe business continuity planning is important.

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