Poor data management typically cost companies $20M per year

Nearly three-fourths (73%) of organizations are failing to meet users’ demands for uninterrupted access to applications data and services, costing the typical company $20 million a year.

This was among the findings of the 2019 Veeam Cloud Data Management Report released recently.

The report noted that over the past decade, the amount of data generated has exploded. By 2025, the data sprawl is expected to generate more than 175 Zettabytes of data each year, up almost two thirds from 2018.

“This highlights the devastating impact downtime can have on lost revenue, productivity, and customer confidence,” Veeam Software said in a news release.

“However, this year’s study shows that organizations are acting to combat this, with nearly three-quarters (72%) looking to embrace cloud data management, often by exploiting hybrid cloud capabilities, to ensure success and drive more value from their data,” it added.

The 2019 Veeam Cloud Data Management Report surveyed more than 1,500 senior business and IT leaders from 13 countries and found that respondents are aware of the importance of data management.

“We are living in a data-driven age, and organizations need to wake up and take action to protect their data. Businesses must manage their data in a way that always delivers availability and leverage its value to drive performance,” said Ratmir Timashev, Co-Founder and Executive Vice President (EVP) of Sales & Marketing at Veeam.

Specifically, he said organizations are looking to embrace technologies such as the cloud, or hybrid cloud, big data, artificial intelligence (AI), and the Internet of Things (IoT) to drive business success.

Veeam said companies will invest on average $41 million in 2019 on such transformational technologies.

Almost half of the respondents admit that data protection is imperative to leverage these investments. Alarmingly, only 37% of businesses are very confident in their current backup solutions, with the majority (73%) admitting that they cannot meet user demands, the report noted.

This inhibits the adoption of tools and processes that can drive business advantage, but leaders recognize work needs to be done.

More than half of those surveyed are looking to deploy Intelligent Data Management and multi-cloud solutions across the business to address this failing.

Timashev added: “We’re seeing a global digital arms race develop today, with some of the world’s most advanced economies at risk of being left behind when it comes to their digital adoption. It’s essential that organizations get the right digital foundation in place to intelligently manage their data and safeguard their future."