Australian SMEs ill-prepared for disaster

Smart Company reveals.

The new report, from flexible workplace provider Regus, which surveyed thousands of businesses worldwide and 400 in Australia, follows natural disasters in Queensland and Victoria that prevented scores of businesses from trading.

The new survey shows that 50% of businesses surveyed have no business continuity plan for workplace requirements, and 36% do not have a disaster recovery system in place for IT programs, while only 16% of larger firms are without a plan.

Alarmingly, 36% of small Australian firms do not a have a disaster recovery system in place to ensure computer systems are up and running within 24 hours, compared to 16% of larger firms, Startup Smart says.

Globally, 55% of firms have no disaster recovery facility that ensures an alternative workspace is available within 24 hours. Australia follows this trend, with 50% of firms lacking an alternative workspace.

The cost could be a major reason for this discrepancy, with the report revealing 23% of Australian businesses perceive the cost of disaster recovery facilities as prohibitive.

“Time is critical. When you have to recover from a disaster, if you don't have a plan, you have to expend energy asking where are we going to go now,” says William Willems, Regus regional VP of Australia, New Zealand and Southeast Asia, NZHerald.co.nz writes.

“That's going to cost you a lot of money. You have to set up board meetings and go through the decision-making process. If you don't have a plan, you're going to lose many, many hours, if not many, many days. That will be very, very expensive for the company.”