Title: An
Analysis of Current Data Continuity Mechanisms Employed by SME
Businesses in
United
Kingdom
Abstract: The
purpose of this study is to analyse current data
continuity mechanisms employed by the target group of businesses and to
identify any inadequacies in the mechanisms as a whole. Small-to-medium
sized
businesses account for 99% of all businesses inside the European Union,
and
provides approximately 65 million jobs (European Union, 2003). As the
reliance
upon computer systems grows amongst us as a society (Paris, 2006), it
is
important to note that loss of a computerised system can cause serious
issues
for small companies (Learning to play it safe with data, 2003).Although
the
number of responses to the questionnaire was not statistically
significant (The
Economist, 1997), information gleaned does allow the hypothesises being
investigated to be commented upon. The questionnaire responses indicate
that
47% of respondents do perceive backup methodologies as important, with
a total
of 70% of respondents having some backup methodology already in place.
Businesses in Moulton
Park perceive the
loss of
data to have a significant effect upon their business’ ability to
function.
Only 14% of respondents indicated that loss of data on computer systems
would
not affect their business at all, with 54% of respondents indicating
that there
would be either a “major effect” (or greater) on their ability to
operate.
Respondents that have experienced data loss were more likely to have
backup
methodologies in place (53%) than respondents that had not experienced
data
loss (18%).Although the number of respondents clearly affected the
quality and
conclusiveness of the results returned, the level of backup
methodologies in
place appears to be proportional to the company size. Further
investigation is
recommended into the subject in order to validate the information
gleaned from
the small number of respondents.
Authors: Craig
Hawker, Shafqat
Hameed, and Tim
Macintyre Bhatty