Firms must make sure that they take a "joined-up" approach to business continuity planning, one expert has warned.

Kelly Ostler-Coyle, spokesperson for the Association of British Insurers, explained that while it is vital for firms to have a business continuity plan in place, this alone is not enough.

She said: "You can take out insurance but not have proper business continuity planning and contingency plans in place and your insurance will only pay one part. Or alternatively, having good contingency plans in place, but not having insurance in case things go wrong."

Both of these are vital and firms should make sure that the have both a disaster recovery plan and suitable insurance in place.

Companies also need to constantly reassess how they look at the issue as risks are constantly changing, she concluded.

Last week, a survey by PricewaterhouseCoopers found that firms must do more to improve their disaster recovery planning.

A recent survey for Connect found that one in ten companies has lost important data as a result of a backup failure. The company has now developed a unique online backup service - http://www.totalrecall.co.uk – for SMEs to ensure they can survive any disaster