Data sprawl - referring to the fact that valuable data is now commonly spread across multiple physical locations and different repository types – is one of the most critical IT issues that a modern organisation will have to manage. Not only does this expanse of data create issues for an organisation around its effective use, it can also negatively affect its security measures.

This is according to a recent report from IDC, the global market intelligence firm, and cloud data management company Rubrik, which commissioned the IDC White Paper study and which involved just over 800 respondents in north America, western Europe and the Asia/Pacific region.

The white paper reveals that:
• Companies are not leveraging data to its fullest extent, causing them to struggle to capitalise on the value of their data.
• They are unprepared to manage data growth.
• Cloud is critical to digital transformation.

For example, data for the same organisation can be widely spread within core datacentres; in public cloud locations including SaaS applications; and at the edge, including remote locations, endpoint devices and specialised IoT devices. This essentially means that data is kept in disparate silos, separated by either geography or technology.

The report notes: “…each silo must be managed for life-cycle policies, security and data protection policies, analytics, and so forth. Few organisations have an enterprise-wide data management strategy and platform. Without the tools and platforms necessary to unify data across the enterprise, organisations cannot gain full competitive benefit from the data available to them. In addition, multiple silos complicate data security efforts and consume more human effort to manage, resulting in both monetary and lost opportunity costs.”

Given that the volume of data companies will need to manage is expected to more than double every two years, IDC analysts predict that the challenge of managing data sprawl will only grow increasingly complicated.

Risna Steenkamp, General Manager: ESM Division at Networks Unlimited Africa, which distributes Rubrik throughout Africa, clarifies, “The research found that few companies actually have an effective and efficient enterprise-wide data management strategy and platform to gain the full potential from their data. At the same time, the white paper showed conversely that positive business outcomes result from data management innovation.”

The report draws attention to the fact that cloud infrastructure will be a critical area of investment, saying: “As for IT organisations surveyed that do have a more sophisticated cloud data management strategy, they are already reaping the benefits. Specifically, staff productivity has increased by 24 percent, with employees spending 64 percent more time on new initiatives rather than ‘just keeping the lights on’. Additionally, unplanned downtime decreased by 59 percent for those with modernised data environments.”

“As the amount of data generated by enterprise organisations continues to skyrocket, a powerful, policy-driven data management platform is imperative to business success,” says Chris Wahl, Chief Technologist at Rubrik. “Many organisations still struggle to manage and secure their data as they adopt cloud strategies, which will only contribute to the data fragmentation problem.”

“Data is one of a company’s most valuable resources,” says Steenkamp. “It enables business owners to make informed decisions, streamline processes and understand their clients. In these days when organisations are now generating more data than they can easily keep up with, it is critical for them to be able to manage their data effectively.”

“Making use of expertise like Rubrik’s – which delivers a single, policy-driven platform for data recovery, governance, compliance and cloud mobility – is therefore no longer simply a recommended option but rather, in terms of an organisation’s future survival, a crucial business decision,” she concludes.

About Networks Unlimited Africa
Networks Unlimited is a value-added distributor, committed to empowering African businesses through innovative technology solutions. Our focus includes the world's leading security, networking, storage, enterprise system management (ESM) and cloud technologies. As a company, we are dedicated to taking our partner ecosystem to new heights. We support our partners through operational excellence, a competitive pricing strategy and strong focus on education, with the view of investing in long-term relationships. We work with competitive, resilient businesses, who are leaders in their field of excellence.

Our offerings include a portfolio of products highly regarded by Gartner, such as Altaro, Attivo Networks, Carbon Black, Cofense, Fortinet, F5, Hitachi Vantara, NETSCOUT, NVIDIA, ProLabs, RSA, Rubrik, SentinelOne, SevOne, Silver Peak, Tenable, Tintri and Uplogix.