Does Data Collection Waste Time and Resources?- Valutrics

While IT and many organizations are in the midst of an unprecedented explosion in data-gathering, a new study finds that only 15 percent of all stored data contains business-critical information. The remaining 85 percent is either dark, meaning its value is unknown, redundant, obsolete or trivial. The reason, according to the study: The data hoarding culture and an indifferent attitude to retention policy. “Understanding and acknowledging that a data hoarding culture exists is a first step in addressing the problem,” said Ben Gibson, CMO of Veritas, which commissioned the study by research firm Vanson Bourne. Although more organizations recognize the problem, most do not know what data to start evaluating, what risk it may contain and where the value is discovered, he said. “Once they have visibility into that environment, they can make decisions faster, with more confidence, and bring in other business stakeholders to move forward with a well-conceived plan.” The study, “Global Databerg Report,” covered 2,550 senior IT decision makers in 22 countries and examined how organizations store and maintain their data.