With multiple virtual servers now commonly being run on a single physical device, traditional approaches to disaster recovery are proving ineffective, leaving large numbers of companies unprotected.

The survey, conducted by US-based Applied Research West on behalf of Symantec, found the introduction of virtualisation technology has led to more than half of all firms re-evaluating their approach to DR.

Symantec spokesman Steve Martin says virtualisation leads to a concentration of systems and it’s this factor that is forcing companies to rethink their DR plans.

“When I have one server running one application, then a failure has a certain degree of impact,” he says. “But when I move to having that one server running five applications, the impact is significantly greater.”

Martin says organisations need to look at the way in which their virtual systems are backed up and how quickly they could be redeployed within a new environment.

“Companies need to figure out how long they can be without systems and how much data loss would be acceptable when formulating their DR plans,” he says.

According to the global survey of 1000 companies across 15 countries, needing different tools for managing systems in both physical and virtual environments was the biggest challenge faced when it came to implementing a successful DR strategy. Others included a lack of automated recovery and insufficient backup tools.