Findings of Symantecs 2010 Information Management Health Check Survey

Symantec Corporation, a leading security provider, had conducted 2010 Information Management Health Check Survey and the findings of this survey were released recently. The findings highlight the fact that most of the enterprises are failing to follow their own advice in the case of information management. As much as 87 percent of the respondents surveyed opined that a formal plan for information retention is indeed very valuable for any company but only 46 percent of the enterprises have taken measures to integrate such a plan.

The results of the survey emphasize that many enterprises store data indefinitely and do not implement a policy under which data which is not required can be deleted confidently. Because of this, enterprises have to face problems like extensive growth of storage, unsustainable windows for data backup, increased risks in litigation and an expensive as well as inefficient process of discovery.

VP of product management, Information Management Group, Symantec, said that indefinite storage of data consequently leads to an infinite amount of waste. He also said that enterprises know the value of a smart information management solution but still a majority of them follow the old practice to retain all data forever. The volume of information is growing in an exponential way, so, when companies try to retain every piece of information, it takes large storage space and also uses too many IT resources. This results in an unnecessary spending of money on poor discovery practices and data management.

The survey also reveals that around 75 percent of data stored by enterprises includes infinite retention and 25 percent of the stored data is not at all important to the company. Half of the enterprises have prohibited their employees from creating archives of data on the local systems and shared devices. Even then, 65 percent of the surveyed respondents agree that employees archive their data in spite of the prohibition. About 40 percent IT managers feel that there is no need for a data retention plan. Whereas, 30 percent said that there is no one who is accountable with the responsibility of information management. Also, 29 percent of the respondents think that the process of information management is too costly.