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.