Despite the prevalence of cloud-storage solutions, 86 percent of small-business owners still rely on physical devices to back up digital information, according to a survey released yesterday by Carbonite, an online storage provider.

The data from the survey, which was conducted in December, came from 125 small businesses with 20 or fewer employees. The survey found that small-business owners use back-up tools including external hard drives (42 percent), USB and flash memory sticks (38 percent) and CDs and DVDs (25 percent) to store computer files, reported The Wall Street Journal.

Also noted in the Carbonite survey is the fact that owners largely take it upon themselves to back up business information – some 65 percent reported being the responsible party for completing the task.

Business owners are clearly reluctant to change when it comes to technology. My WSJ story, “Small Companies Look to Cloud for Savings in 2011,” noted that only 10 percent of small-business owners are expected to be using cloud services by mid-2011.

Research has shown that business owners are hesitant to try cloud computing because they don’t want to stray from familiar systems or invest in new ones.

It’s surprising that so many are haven’t made the switch to the cloud, especially because about half of business owners believe the cost of upgrading technology and the cost of maintaining technology are two of the greatest technological challenges they face, according to a National Small Business Association survey released last year.

By switching to the cloud, business owners wouldn’t need to be responsible for upgrading and maintaining the storage systems – the cloud provider would.