Dark Data - Unfulfilled Potential That Poses Serious Risk If Ignored

Dark Data has become more valuable and companies are looking for better ways to harness the intelligence within it. Information Governance is emerging into a core business practice within almost every organization. Information Governance establishes awareness, controls, processes, practices and technologies designed to structure rules and behavior about how information is captured, created, stored, used, archived and ultimately disposed of.

Dark Data is moving to the top of most executives 2015 " To Do" lists. Many organizations are experiencing a seemingly endless—and escalating—threat to the security of that data, as well as an increase in the cost, complexity, and risk of managing data. The recent data breaches were enough to alert the world about the potential dangers of unmanaged and unprotected content. The key questions that any organization should be asking are:

1. How do I better manage the data, rein in storage growth, enhance efficiency, and data governance?
2. How do I protect data from data loss and data breaches, and reduce liabilities due to regulatory non-compliance and other risk exposures?
3. How do I extract more value from the data that I store?

Previously most discussions of Dark Data were focused on its potential value and utility to an organization. The information locked up inside Dark Data is undoubtedly very rewarding to the business. The flip side to that is the lack of understanding & visibility into this Dark Data is posing a serious threat to businesses in terms of reputation, regulatory, and financial risks.

Inadequate dark data management carries a number of risks that might include some or all of the following:

• Legal and regulatory risk - Data covered by mandate or regulation – such as confidential, financial information (credit card or other account data) or patient records – appears anywhere in dark data collections, its exposure could involve legal and financial liability. ex. Compliance issues, Litigation and the consequent need to produce all data related to a case)
• Intelligence risk. If dark data encompasses proprietary or sensitive information reflective of business operations, practices, competitive advantages, important partnerships and joint ventures, and so forth, inadvertent disclosure could adversely affect the bottom line or compromise important business activities and relationships. ex. Loss of trade secrets and confidential information, Loss of intellectual property.
• Reputation risk. Any kind of data breach reflects badly on the organizations affected thereby. This applies as much to dark data (especially in light of other risks) as to other kinds of breaches. ex. Loss of customer lists, Loss of credit card numbers or other sensitive information.
• Opportunity costs. Given that the organization has decided not to invest in analysis and mining of dark data by definition, concerted efforts by third parties to exploit its value represent potential losses of intelligence and value based upon its contents.
• Open-ended exposure. Dark data contains information that's either too difficult or costly to extract to be mined, or it contains unknown sources of intelligence or exposure to loss or harm Until you can see what encompasses this data you have no way of knowing for sure.

The Solution?

EMBRACE NEW TECHNOLOGIES & NEW WAYS OF THINKING ABOUT YOUR DATA.

IT professionals have a powerful opportunity to demonstrate the competence and control they can bring to the realm of data management, including the critically important area of information governance. By taking a leadership role in protecting an organization’s information, IT can regain the high ground that has been eroded in some organizations from the forces of BYOD, SaaS proliferation, and the ubiquity of cloud-based resources. Some basic best practices include:

• Think Strategically, Act Tactically. Gartner provides an excellent getting-started strategy in a recent report4 as it suggests: “An approach to information governance based on specific use cases is one way to break through these barriers to adoption. ... all of which can be used
  as starting points for larger programs.” This translates into a mantra that today’s forward thinking IT pros should adhere to: Think strategically, act tactically. Create the big picture, one project at a time.

• Establish Ownership and Allies. Establishing ownership and allies helps place IT at the center of IG efforts. This combines identifying projects and taking ownership of them, while collaborating with key allies to help ensure success. Encouraging adoption is easier if you have internal advocates in the business.

• Engage an Executive Sponsor. It helps when at least some of your allies are at a sufficiently high level to ensure funding and to let others know the importance of the project. An execu- tive sponsor can also help minimize the fragmentation that can otherwise occur. Gartner notes: “By 2015, over 50% of global enterprises will have between five and seven disjointed information governance projects happening simultaneously, up from just a one or two today.” IT involvement at a high level can help prevent the emergence of multiple disjointed projects.

• Define, Measure, and Track Metrics. Be sure to make the time at the front end of a project to define metrics that can be tracked throughout the project to help define its success. The metrics should align with business objectives, be measured periodically throughout the project, and published to team members and executives.

ABOUT DATAGRAVITY

At DataGravity, we’re unlocking the value of your data with data aware storage. In today’s world of information overload, organizations need to react faster and understand the value of critical information that is contained in the massive amounts of data they generate and store each day.

We recognize the need for a simplified solution that can be administered by the IT pro and leveraged by IT and business users alike to easily extract the value locked away in their vast data stores.

DataGravity will change the way you manage your data and give you a competitive advantage in today’s data driven world.

afanale@datagravity.com

704-560-7500

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