About 60 per cent Indian businesses are struggling to protect and effectively manage their databases, which make up 51 per cent of an organisation's total value, a survey has said.

According to the survey by IT security solutions provider Symantec, corporate data in Indian companies is expected to grow 67 per cent in the next 12 months.

"However, with information spiralling rapidly, 60 per cent Indian businesses are struggling to effectively manage and protect their digital information, which makes up 51 per cent of an organisation's total value,," the survey added.

The findings are part of a global survey comprising business and IT executives at 4,506 companies in 36 countries.

"Our survey shows that only 15 per cent of businesses in India can confidently use their business information without being either too permissive or too restrictive about its access," Symantec MD Sales (India and SAARC) Anand Naik said.

Without the ability to properly protect their information assets, this data can become a liability, he added.

About 89 per cent of Indian respondents (firms) said they have lost some part of information in the past year, the survey found.

About 94 per cent said they have had confidential information exposed outside of the company, while 31 per cent said they have experienced compliance failures related to information.

Another challenge the companies face is the amount of duplicate information stored -- an average of 38 per cent.

"All these risks and inefficiencies result in businesses spending more than necessary on storing and protecting their information. A key issue identified by 30 per cent of businesses is information sprawl, which is unorganised, difficult to access and often duplicated elsewhere," it said.

Losing some/all of their information could lead to decreased revenues said 31 per cent of the Indian firms, while loss of customers (34 per cent), increased expenses (33 per cent) and brand damage (35 per cent) could be other effects.

"To counter this, businesses in India need to put in place a plan to manage their data assets so they can have a true competitive advantage," Naik said.

To effectively protect their information, Symantec said firms need to focus on protecting information rather than devices and data centre. Business must also be able to separate useless data from valuable business information and protect it accordingly.