The research commissioned by telecoms provider, Daisy Group plc, found that despite the growth of mobile business technology, like cloud computing, adverse weather conditions prevent an estimated three million workers from completing their normal work responsibilities.
The study found that a third (31%) of UK businesses were affected by transport problems, power cuts or broadband and phone line failures caused by inclement weather over the last two years. Of those, 40 per cent did not have a business continuity plan in place, leaving their staff unable to work from home or from another location.
Tim Meredith, Director of UC and Mobility at Daisy, said: “Too many businesses think that they are impervious to floods or adverse weather conditions, but as our research found, it affects nearly a third of companies operating in the UK.
“Staff safety is understandably a business’ number one concern, as workers cannot be expected to put themselves at risk in hazardous travelling or working conditions, so having a back-up plan makes good business sense.
“Although not every organisation is tech-savvy, most IT departments’ servers today are virtualised, meaning disaster recovery plans are quite easy and cost-effective to create. The cloud, for example, can be used to enable staff to work from almost any location with an internet connection.”
To assist businesses with continuity planning, Daisy is hosting a Twitter Q&A on the subject on 4th December. Businesses can post questions using the hashtag #bizcontinuity and have them answered by a panel of tech experts, including Daisy’s Director of Cloud and Hosting, and Director of Unified Communications & Mobility.