Get rid of the ROT and reduce your DUMB
How much ROT is in your company? What is ROT? Well, to put it plainly, ROT (Redundant, Outdated, Trivial data) is just gross. Really, I do mean gross – the word or acronym as it is, not only sounds gross it refers to the gross amount of data of no business or legal value retained by organizations. Here’s another new acronym for you – DUMB. ROT and DUMB, not exactly the most pleasant-sounding way to start a blog, is it? But wait, if you find that unpleasant then *spoiler alert*, the following statement based off a recent AIIM report will really strike a nerve – Large companies could be spending an excess of $30 MILLION DOLLARS per year managing ROT! Here’s the point – Reduce the ROT and you’ll reduce the DUMB.
A few months back, we had the pleasure of presenting to an audience of DPO’s, Compliance and Data Protection officers in London. During our chat we introduced the DUMB acronym for the first time. And it clearly struck a chord. The reactions across the room were eye-opening. Heads nodded, faces smiled; we got some chuckles and even heard a few proclamations of YES!
What is the DUMB?
Think of the number of duplicate contracts & documents as well as outdated information that accumulates across an organization. All this information was created from current and former employees, M&A activities, HR policies, records and, well, you get the idea. And of course, this data is never centralized onto one, nicely organized location – no, it’s across network servers, SharePoint, emails, desktops, mobile devices, geographies and increasingly today, cloud platforms such as Slack, Salesforce, etc. All of this…makes up your Data Under Management Budget. Yes, the DUMB.
Our company has a lot of data we don’t need, so what?
Let’s be clear, there are numerous risks to a company holding on to ROT. Any one of them can be very costly. For one, add up the costs for all the excessive infrastructure – storage, maintenance, software licensing, applications and so on. While we are at it, let’s also consider those costly business analytics tools. The reliability (and ROI) of these tools depends on the quality of the data feeding into them – excessive outdated (bad) data will most certainly impact these tools. The impact on the analytics tools could be devastating to the value of the information derived and its negative outcomes across critical business systems. If these tools are being automated, that means even less oversight on the bad data driving business decisions.
Then there’s the heightened risk of breach (and data exfiltration) and the associated liability risk(s) associated with the loss of PII/PCI/PHI, as well as company trade secrets. These are just two quick examples – there are others – of the risks and costs raised within an organization that should be evaluated, and not ignored.
There is a deeper gaze being placed on compliance today, giving way to new emerging roles in data protection and information governance. It’s not surprising to us at Infinnium that more and more conversations are focused on this area. And this is why we built 4iG. In fact, recent surveys like the Global Information Governance Survey 2022-23 (Robert F. Smallwood and InfoGov World Media) uncovers the significant shifts over the past year among the top 10 IG project focus areas within organizations – with reactive strategies such as Legal and eDiscovery shifting downwards, whereas proactive strategies like data privacy, protection and governance are leaping towards the top.
Conclusion
The more ROT an organization houses unnecessarily, the more risks and costs you are exposed to daily.
The ability to have clearer insights into what you have, where it’s located, and manage that data in place is a gigantic first step towards reducing the DUMB. Infinnium’s 4iG software platform is purposed built to solve these challenges. 4iG can deal with your data where it exists versus putting some or all of it into yet another location. After all, when you’re trying to reduce ROT, the last thing you should want is to duplicate that data! 4iG is the smart solution for identifying and investigating ROT, reducing it intelligently and managing it based on the compliance rules you require going forward. The result will be far less DUMB than your current situation.
About Infinnium 4iG
Infinnium is redefining Information Governance. Our GRC, Privacy & Legal Compliance solutions revolutionize the way organizations connect to and interact with data at rest to gain actionable intelligence. Built for corporations, law firms, and others our 4iG software solution uses AI, machine learning and analytics to improve business decision-making and information management including IG, compliance with GDPR, HIPAA, other privacy regulations and electronic discovery. Infinnium’s team of experts brings simplicity to the complex world of digital data, combining the strengths of people and modern technology to help organizations harness their data and empower them to make smarter business decisions and effectively address today’s complex information management needs. To learn more about Infinnium’s innovative suite of technology solutions, visit www.infinnium.com.