Some topics are sexy but not necessarily important — like just about everything on E!
On the other hand, some topics are important but not necessarily sexy — like just about everything in the article below.
Sorry, gang: just tellin’ it like it is.
By Fred Donovan in FierceITSecurity.
Emphasis in red added by me.
Brian Wood, VP Marketing
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Close to half of firms do not have data governance policies, survey finds
Close to half of North American companies do not have a data governance policy in place, even though 82 percent face external regulatory requirements for stored data, according to a survey of 454 organizations in 11 industries by Rand Worldwide.
Data governance includes data archiving, backup and e-discovery, explained Chris Grossman, senior vice president of enterprise applications at Rand Worldwide.
The organizations surveyed have earmarked annual budgets of between $200,000 and $500,000 to implement their data governance solutions.
The survey found that 98 percent of organizations have implemented a data backup solution, but three-quarters are not satisfied with their current solution. Only 11 percent of respondents indicated that they were extremely satisfied with their current data archiving solution.
More than 50 percent of those surveyed plan to implement an e-discovery solution or upgrade their existing solution in the coming year. Yet, one-third of respondents had never heard of ‘predictive coding’, a technology used to streamline data extraction for e-discovery in litigation and regulatory audits.
“Predictive coding is a methodology inside the technology that enables the system to analyze the data to more accurately filter information, instead of having people do the filtering. There is a big movement from a litigation perspective that courts are now requiring predictive coding because they found it to be more accurate than a manual review of data during e-discovery,” Grossman told FierceITSecurity.
Data governance and data security go hand-in-hand, particularly from an enterprise mobility perspective, Grossman explained.
“What is happening with enterprise users is an increase in the amount of mobility they are demanding … However, increased mobility of the workforce puts a strain on the IT department because most of the time the security model stops at the network, stops at the VPN,” he said.
“What a data governance policy allows enterprises to do is to extend the security model of the data from the VPN out to the users, even if they are using mobile devices at the edge. We can still gather that information from a backup and archiving perspective. So we allow companies to apply standards and protect data, even though the security of that data is being extended,” Grossman added.
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Rand Secure Archive Releases North American Survey Results on Data Governance
Framingham, MA – October 2, 2013 — Rand Worldwide (OTCBB: RWWI), a global leader in providing technology solutions to organizations with engineering design and information technology requirements, today announced the results from its Rand Secure Archive (RandSA) division’s 2013 Rand Secure Archive Data Governance Survey.
With average volumes for electronically stored data expected to increase in the next year between 26 and 50 percent, respondents from a wide range of industries across the United States and Canada clearly articulated the need for a formal approach to data governance within their organizations. In fact, 82 percent of respondents know they face external regulatory requirements, but 44 percent of respondents still don’t have a defined data governance policy.
“We conducted this survey because we wanted to understand the maturity of the market when it comes to defining data governance strategies and adopting solutions that ensure compliance,” says Chris Grossman, senior vice president of enterprise applications at Rand Worldwide. “In analyzing the results, it’s encouraging to see that organizations are budgeting and putting IT initiatives in place to help them manage, save and access their electronically stored data, essentially data governance is no longer a ‘nice to have’ but rather a ‘need to have.’ This is a drastic shift from just 12 months ago when companies investing in this space would have been seen as early adopters. However, within the next 12 months, if companies are not investing in this space they’ll be seen as laggards.”
The overwhelming message from the survey is that organizations across North America are realizing the importance of data governance. And while they may not have advanced data governance solutions today, they have pre-determined annual budgets of between $200,000 and $500,000 to implement their data governance solutions. For the first time, a data governance survey has uncovered the monetary value that companies are placing on implementing a data governance policy. This new figure provides a benchmark for companies considering implementing a data governance solution.
The 2013 Rand Secure Archive Data Governance Survey Results free whitepaper which provides the complete survey findings can be downloaded at www.randsa.com/resources/whitepapers-reports.
Four key insights and their business implications
- 82 percent of respondents, both publicly traded and private companies, know they face external regulatory requirements, yet 44 percent of respondents don’t have any data governance policy. This indicates companies know they need to do more, but aren’t sure how to do so.
- Within the next year, almost 50 percent of those surveyed said they would be taking some sort of action on data governance, either an implementation or discussions about doing so. This indicates a shift in corporate thinking from simply being an emerging issue to a mainstream requirement.
- Two integral components of data governance are data archiving and backup. Although 98 percent of organizations have implemented a data backup solution, a resounding 75 percent of these organizations are not satisfied with their current solution. Only 11 percent of respondents indicated they were extremely satisfied with their current archiving solution. These statistics indicate a clear need for new, innovative and user friendly data governance technologies.
- More than 50 percent of those surveyed plan to implement an eDiscovery solution or upgrade their existing solution in the coming year. Surprisingly however, one-third of respondents had never heard of ‘predictive coding’ ― the fastest growing eDiscovery technology. With the ability to dramatically streamline data extraction, the survey findings show that predictive coding is currently in the emerging phase, but its adoption is expected to significantly grow in the coming months.
Methodology
The 2013 Rand Secure Archive Data Governance Survey was conducted online between August 13, 2013 and August 26, 2013. In total, 454 organizations across more than 11 industries participated in the survey. Industries included architecture, engineering and construction (AEC), finance and insurance, government, healthcare, IT services, legal, oil and gas, and manufacturing. Sixty percent of organizations surveyed had annual revenues of less than $100,000,000 and 67 percent had fewer than 5,000 employees. For the full methodology and the complete survey findings download the free 2013 Rand Secure Archive Data Governance Survey Results whitepaper at www.randsa.com/resources/whitepapers-reports.
About Rand Secure Archive
Rand Secure Archive, a division of Rand Worldwide, offers North America’s first and only Autonomy powered data archive, compliance and discovery technology for small to mid-sized organizations. For more than 20 years Rand Worldwide has been delivering technology solutions to customers. For the last 15 years the company successfully implemented and supported Zantaz enterprise email archiving solutions. Companies relying on CAD for their design engineering needs, IT, engineering, architectural, healthcare, legal and other organizations work with Rand Secure Archive to implement world-class data archiving and management solutions.
