NEW DELHI – Can you believe this? Worlwide organizations hold about 2.2 zettabytes of data and the cost of securing and storing it? whooping $1.1 trillion is what these organizations cash in to secure and provide access to this data, according to Symantec.
Symantec’s “State of Information” survey revealed these sky-high numbers about the amount of data and what’s spent to hold it. The global survey covered around 4,056 information technology professionals at organizations across 38 countries to predict the results. The survey was published today which revealed that larger enterprises spend about $38 million on average whereas small to midsize business(SMBs) spend approximately $332,000 to store and secure their business data. 30% of the total respondents said they suffer from “information sprawl” as data is held outside the organization as well as inside it.
Sean Regan, senior director of product marketing at Symantec said that the SMBs spend marginally more that the large enterprises when it comes to per-employee spending. SMBs spend $3,670 on per employee information storage, security and management whereas large enterprises spend $3,297.
The survey also highlighted that Information most important to all organizations, so much that the 4,506 IT professionals said they believe it represents 49% of an organization’s “total value.”
“The vast amount of information that organizations produce today can help them better serve their customers and increase productivity. However, the same information can also become a major liability if it is not properly protected. Companies that effectively use their information will have a major competitive advantage over those who cannot, and in some cases it can be the difference between success and failure,” said Francis deSouza, group president, Enterprise Products and Services, Symantec Corp. “With its increasing value and rising cost, successful companies will find ways to more effectively protect their information and unleash the productivity it can bring.”
Respondents also highlighted the impact of data loss to their business, including lost customers (49 percent), damage to reputation and brand (47 percent), decreased revenue (41 percent), increased expenses (39 percent) and a tumbling stock price (20 percent).
Although, these critical information are at stake and securing data is on the priority list of enterprises yet businesses are still struggling. Hence to tackle these issues Symantec has the following recommendations: 1) Focus on the information, not the device or data center 2) Not all information is equal 3) Be efficient 4) Consistency is the key 5) Stay agile.
