Deploying an online backup solution may be one option many small companies will want to consider, as new research has shown an increase in the number of data loss incidents among this segment.

According to the poll of 125 businesses with between two and 20 employees, 48 percent admitted to suffering some form of data loss. That is up from the 42 percent that answered similarly in December 2010.

Respondents' choices of backup solution may be to blame. Forty-one percent said they utilize external hard drives, 36 percent rely on CDs and DVDS or USB/flash memory sticks. The capabilities of an online backup solution go far beyond any of these methods and may help prevent future incidents.

As for the cause of data loss, 54 percent of respondents blamed hardware or software failures. With cloud backup, data would remain accessible even should on-premise systems break down.

A similar study from CyberSource also recently gauged companies’ data protection measures. According to those results, 70 percent of respondents aim to "protect the brand" when securing data, while just 26 percent have compliance in mind.