The Rise of Dark Data may sound like a sci-fi film, but it’s one of the most pressing, and ominous, challenges facing organizations across the UAE and the Middle East.
As organizations digitally transform, they are also connecting more people, processes, and things to networks – generating an exponential growth in data.
While some of this data is useful for business insights, a recent Veritas Databerg report shows that UAE organizations store only 12 percent critical data.
The rest, 88 percent, is like the vast expanses of outer space – “dark data” that is unquantified, or worse, obsolete or trivial. Dark data was a major topic at the recent Veritas Vision Solution Day UAE in Dubai.
Why does this much dark data matter? Because storage is expensive, and whether on-premise or on the cloud, these storage costs can quickly spiral out of control – especially because about half of data is stored on legacy tape and primary storage.
But it’s not just about costs. If organizations aren’t managing their data, then they don’t know what data they’re missing out on that could enhance their business.
And on the contrary side, this dark data could be left open to enemy threats from cyberattacks – and survey results show that barely half of UAE organizations can recover from a cyberattack within one day.
Who will be the hero for organizations and their dark data?
The first, and most important step, is for organizations to roll up their sleeves and start using the right information management software to classify their data. Then, once they know the data that they have, they should jettison their worthless data and focus on the data that can generate business value.
On-premise long-term retention can be a silver bullet that can blast outdated tape storage to another galaxy. Long-term retention can ensure that their data is always available, and can optimize costs, compliance and security.
The path towards eliminating dark data is not easy. It can take a lot of time and having the right IT resources in place. But it is a battle that you can fight and win – for the good of your organization and your customers.
