That's the message from AXA Insurance, which has learned that the failure of IT systems represents the biggest threat to small firms' health and profitability.

In fact, fears about IT problems came top of the insurance giant's annual survey for the third year running, with 91% of respondents identifying this as a threat, and a quarter citing IT collapse as the most common cause of total business failure.

However, despite their concerns, 39% of businesses polled had no contingency plan in place to protect them in the event of IT failure. As a result, AXA has published a press release listing the most important factors to consider when planning to cope with possible IT meltdown.

Doug Barnett, risk control strategy manager at AXA, said of the findings:

“One thing is clear, if your IT systems fail and you aren’t prepared, this is probably the one risk most likely to put you out of business. Businesses need to consider all the risks they face and prepare a business continuity plan. How you would cope with an IT failure is one of the most important areas to consider. If you plan for it you can cope with it.�