Storage Cat 08 3/10/08 17:07 Page 48
48 INFORMATION CLUTTER
FACING UP TO INFORMATION OVERLOAD
Recent HP research shows that the average UK employee now spends up to five
weeks a year looking for lost computer files and data. Stephen Watson looks at the
causes of the ‘information overload’ and suggests some possible cures
Words: By Stephen Watson, UK Product Marketing Manager, HP StorageWorks
Information is a gift and a curse. It lies at the heart of for data
today’s knowledge economy, allowing organisations to create management
wealth through its distribution and manipulation. In recent were frequently
years the spiralling growth in the volume of information has not fully
left many organisations drowning in data and lacking an understood.
effective means of managing it. The rapid
The loss in productivity caused by data overload is reaching introduction of
crisis proportions. Research firm Basex recently chose policies
‘information overload’ as its Problem of the Year for 2008 and addressing
warns that failure to solve the problem will lead to “reduced data authentication, data capture, and its distribution, often
productivity and throttled innovation.” led to ‘keep-or-dump’ on-the-fly decision making. Erring on
the side of caution, many companies have responded by taking
Scaling up comes at a cost the short-term decision to store everything.
The issue of information growth has often been tackled by In the absence of effective business intelligence tools, they
simply adding new storage server capacity bringing with it now find they are unable to retrieve data on demand, leading
serious financial implications. HP, for example, estimates that to potential issues with breaches of compliance, decisions
for every $1 spent on capacity, management of that capacity based on poor information, and lost business opportunities.
adds a further $3. Just as organisations were coming to terms with existing
The costs associated with a kilowatt of electricity are also corporate governance legislation such as Basel II, a new set
rising significantly. According to the Uptime Institute the current of directives are now causing widespread concern for business
three-year cost of powering and cooling servers is around one- and IT professionals charged with the responsibility of
and-a-half times the cost of purchasing server hardware. implementing effective information management policies.
Information clutter Grasping the information nettle
Some of the reasons for the massive increase in corporate Although technology is causing information overload, many
data have been well cited, including the growth of e-mail and forward thinking companies realise it can also offer ways to
other forms of electronic communications. Perhaps more combat it.
surprisingly, a recent cross-sector survey of 350 UK IT Next generation solutions can help ensure that information
Managers commissioned by HP, revealed that up to 45% of isn’t simply ‘siloed’ into ever-growing storage farms by
staff store digital content on corporate networks, placing providing data storage infrastructure and the back-up
extra strain on storage requirements. software that goes with it, complemented with business
But it is not just the explosion in the volume of data that is intelligence and data warehousing tools.
causing an information strain – it’s the way it is organised. Using industry-leading business intelligence solutions
Nearly two thirds (62 percent) of respondents to the same companies can derive more value from their data, manage
survey said information was often duplicated within their information more efficiently, mitigate risks and assure
organisation because it was difficult to find. compliance with regulatory mandates.
This information clutter has a negative knock on effect for IT
departments. Increasingly IT managers are spending a Putting information to work
disproportionate amount of their time fielding requests from Information is critical for every business and with the right
employees trying to find basic information. strategy and tools in place, its management can be simplified
to make it easier to create, locate and analyse corporate data.
Regulatory headaches By embracing next generation management information
Companies now face the added challenge of storing data in line tools, organisations can help employees to take informed
with regulatory requirements. When first introduced, these decisions and reduce data duplication, making information
highly complex compliance regulations created immense work harder for them – rather than having to work hard to
pressure on organisations because the specific requirements find the right information.
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