A new survey by HP has identified problems with the way that UK firms are storing and retrieving information. HP said that by changing their practices firms could save up to five weeks a year in employee time.

The survey polled 350 UK IT managers and 350 associated employees. Although two-thirds of respondents said that they were backing up data on a daily basis, over a fifth said it was done only weekly, and over 40 per cent said it was backed up using paper, CD or DVDs.

Over half of the IT managers polled said that they frequently got requests from users wishing to access archived information, and when asked how many hours a week employees spent searching for electronic information, 63 per cent said up to two hours, while 22 per cent said they spent up to four hours per week.

HP StorageWorks business director Adam Thew said that, “It’s clear that IT managers face major challenges, because the raw data level is doubling every 18 months. Making data quality better and more available should give businesses a significant advantage, since it allows staff to find the right data quickly so they can spend time doing more valuable tasks.”