The survey, conducted in November 2010, talked with 1,840 respondents from 23 countries around the world--including the Philippines--to measure the impact of disasters to SMBs and gauge their stages of disaster recovery preparedness.

The survey accounted for SMBs as firms having five to 499 employees.

One of the key findings was that at least half of Filipino SMBs do not have disaster preparedness plans, while one third of those surveyed admitted they would lose precious company data when disaster strikes.

"Disasters can happen anytime, anywhere, and without warning," emphasized Edwin Tiotuyco, manager for channels and territory sales, Symantec Philippines. "The impact [of disasters] to SMBs is critical--they lose money, customers, and even reputation."

Despite these accepted realities, most SMBs tend to be reactive in approaching disasters. Half of the SMBs surveyed have put up a plan only after they experienced an outage; 38% have only put a plan together in the last six months; and only 39% have actually tested their plans.