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When we speak to organisations about their growing data sets, they normally have concerns over things like the cost of the increasing storage or the fact that so much of the data is low-value.
What real harm could it be causing, they say, because we know for certain there’s no personal customer data or sensitive corporate information in the areas that are growing. So, it’s not risky, right?
Well, there are lots of risks around rising data volumes that you might not have considered.
- Failed Backups: Over-consumption of storage devices results in a lack of space to back the information up. If backups are slow, or in fact, do not complete at all, then you run the risk of losing vital business data. According to the University of Maryland, hackers attack every 39 seconds so if disaster strikes, you need to be assured that your information still exists.
- Anti-virus crash: Similarly, as data continues to grow, with no controls in place to manage the rise, anti-virus scans may be slow or not complete at all. Without this, the technology cannot detect, prevent and remove potential threats, opening the organisation up to possible (and disastrous) data breaches.
- Core data on local devices: Employee A is trying to save an important piece of work he’s been doing but is having issues because there is not enough storage space available. What’s the solution? Storing it locally, on desktops, even a USB pen drive. If employees are faced with problems, the easiest option is to revert to bad habits. And what that means is that important business info is not being stored appropriately with all the correct security and retention policies applied to it.
- What is really being stored? As data volumes grow, it’s easy to lose a handle on where information is saved, and what exactly it contains. Big Data is invaluable for insights, but there are also challenges when the organisation does not have a true representation of what they’re storing. Growing data means less control, running the risk that employees have access to data they shouldn’t have or aren’t protecting the data in the same way that they should be.
While the cost impact and unorganised data might seem like the biggest problems, have you really considered the other security and compliance risks?
For information on how to control your growing data set, contact us today about data analysis and cleansing as part of the first steps on your digital transformation journey.
Written by: Sarah McCurdy
