A 2009 article by McKinsey on business technology highlighted a new world order, where CIOs have to meet post-recession business demands in three ways:
“They will have to make the IT function dramatically more productive, use IT more effectively to meet larger corporate goals and embrace disruptive technologies that will shape the new economic terrain.”
Survey reveals added pressures
Following the recession, the demand for doing more with less is greater than ever before and IT is not exempt from this - quite the contrary, in fact.
The pressures to show operational efficiency, provide business continuity and still meet larger organisational goals certainly playing their part in the steady increase of Prozac and liquor sales at a liver-busting rate of 20% per year.
Okay, we made up that last statistic, but the fact remains that IT has enough on its plate without having to spend exhaustive resources on the effective management of user data (residing on company desktops and laptops).
Cibecs' recent 2010 Data Loss Survey highlighted various problems associated with user data management and its impact on operational efficiency.
Without giving too much away (the full report will be available soon), survey respondents raised several concerns regarding the impact on IT resources.
Data flow to increase by 650% (Gartner)
Gartner predicts that data flow into enterprises will grow by 650% over the next five years. Add to that the ever increasing mobility of vast amounts of data by way of much improved laptop storage, and you've got a recipe for a bit of a disaster, should smart data management not be the order of the day.
With only 32% of survey respondents showing great confidence in their current backup methodology, leaving 68% unconvinced of their ability to recover lost data and ensure business continuity, there clearly is a big problem - and it's costing companies millions.
As shown by another recent survey: “Managing Information in the Enterprise: Perspectives for Business Leaders” - data-related problems cost the majority of respondents more than $5 million annually, with a staggering 20% of companies reporting losses in excess of $20 million per year.
The survey, sponsored by SAP, also revealed that: “95% of companies believe that information management is essential to business success”.
Operational benefit
With a change in mindset where IT infrastructure is moving from “reliable and expensive” to “flexible and cost-effective”, CIOs and IT managers have to find ways to maximise the operational benefits derived from the resources available to them.
Just think about the impact it has on the business when you have to allocate valuable resource on:
1. Migrating user data to new machines.
* It's a costly and labour-intensive exercise
* Often data goes missing in the migration
2. Recovering lost files.
* Hours are spent trying to find lost files
* Often expensive third party consultants need to be used to recover the files
* Most of the time the user has to redo the work (which is a waste of resource)
* This affects the user, and therefore the company's ability to effectively serve its clientele and meet its overall objectives.
So much information is stored on company desktops and laptops, especially as we move to a more mobile society that companies are beginning to understand the need to take responsibility for that data away from users and manage it from one central location.
According to our survey, only 38% of respondents have an automated data backup and recovery solution in place that allows for centralised data management.
Five key benefits of such a solution:
1. Free up your best personnel to focus on your core business: (and their core duties) while data backup on all company desktops and notebooks happen automatically.
2. Maximise uptime for your network systems: greatly assisting in eliminating the overwhelming burden of everyday administration from your IT staff.
3. Prove legal compliance: The centralisation of control over what data, from which users should be backed up, allows for clear, measurable and appropriate reports to prove legal and backup procedure compliance.
4. Maximise your current storage infrastructure and minimise IT spend: Encryption, delta level patching and compression features not only secure your data, but also take strain off your company's existing network and storage, which means you do not have to invest heavily in new hardware and get a higher return on investment on your existing infrastructure.
5. Eliminate costly surprises when recovering or transferring data: Greatly reduces time and costs associated with replacement of computer hardware.
IT's new world order is a demanding place with extra burdens and added pressures.
Our 2010 Data Loss survey report will shed further light on factors that add to these pressures but, one thing we can say for sure, is that: Data is growing exponentially every year and IT will most certainly have to carry the can should that data be compromised in any number of ways.
Effective management of your critical user data could hand your company a business advantage, allowing valuable IT resource the freedom it needs to get down to the major task at hand - assisting your company in meeting its overall business objectives.
It can be done.
It must be done.
See how Cibecs can help your business. Visit http://www.cibecs.com or contact us on: +27 (11) 791 0073.
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