Implementation failures swells data planning survey, reveals Symantec

A study by Symantec Corp has revealed that the findings of its 2012 Information Retention and eDiscovery Survey shows how enterprises manage their ever-growing volumes of electronically stored information (ESI) and prepare for the eventuality of an eDiscovery request.

ITRealms gathered that the study found the percentage of organizations without a formal information retention plan dropped by half from the 2011 survey. 

However, even with this improvement, the study stated that organizations struggle with implementing their information retention plans as only a third of organizations report their plan is fully operational.

Nearly two-thirds (60 per cent) of organizations say they have a formal retention plan, yet only 34 per cent report those plans are fully operational. 

The perceived cost of implementing their plans is reported to be the most common reason why organizations are lagging in plan implementation. 

The survey found that only 7 per cent of organizations do not have any plans in place, a 50 per cent drop from 14 per cent of organizations reported in the 2011 survey. 

Even more concerning is that while they received on average 17 requests for electronically stored information, these requests failed 31 per cent of the time. 

This, the study noted is significantly higher than the 20 per cent of failures reported in 2011, adding that while each time a failure occurs, the organization is at risk. 

Forty-three per cent reported the inability to make decisions in a timely fashion as the biggest consequence of these failures. Just as other consequences reported include damage to reputation, compromised legal position, fines, raised profile as a litigation target and court sanctions. 

Director, Information Intelligence Group, Symantec, Trevor Daughney, said the survey highlighted that, although there is a reduction in the number of organizations without an information retention plan, organizations have not fully funded and implemented their plans.

“With the number of ESI requests and failures to obtain requested information increasing, organizations face risks that are much more costly in the long run than implementing their plans,” Daughney said.

Further, the study revealed that there is still a substantial gap between beliefs and practices in retention policies, which has not significantly changed year over year. Whereas 81per cent of respondents believe that a proper information retention plan allows organizations to delete information on an ongoing basis. However, 42 percent of backups are indefinitely retained by organizations. 

This is virtually unchanged from the 2011 results and, information deleted by organizations is often deleted without considering established retention policies. 

The most reported negative consequences resulting from preserving more electronically stored information  than necessary include “Increased costs associated with collection, analysis and review (54 per cent); increased time spent to collect, analyze and review ESI (47 per cent); increased risk that sensitive information may be disclosed (44 per cent); compromised position in potential or actual litigation (27 per cent); and information unintentionally made available for potential future litigation (28 per cent).” 

Remmy Nweke
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