Guest Column: Staying Afloat In The Sea Of Data: Managing Your Information Risk

By Bob Tennant, CEO of Recommind

Corporations are drowning in data. Twenty-five years ago, individual computer storage was measured in thousands of bytes; 15 years ago, in millions; 5 years ago, in billions; today, in trillions. IDC recently estimated that 1.2 million petabytes of digital information would be produced in 2010, the equivalent of 1.2 zettabytes of data. The numbers are getting to the point where they're actually hard to fathom.

Despite the enormous amount of data created every day, the average employee gives no thought to managing it. Individuals have little incentive to classify or file information. It's a time-consuming, tedious chore, so most of the time, it doesn't get done—and without technological assistance, never will. It seems so much easier to save everything, in case it's needed later.