Businesses storing data on tapes ‘less competitive, more vulnerable’ – EMC


12 Aug 2011

Businesses that still store data on tape rather than electronically are less competitive and more vulnerable to security breaches and data loss, says EMC.

Jason Ward, EMC’s country manager in Ireland, said that by getting rid of tapes and storing large volumes of data on electronic disk libraries, businesses can become leaner.

“Businesses and public sector organisations can dramatically cut costs and become leaner by getting rid of tape, which is cumbersome and vulnerable to security breaches,” said Ward.
 
“By moving to a disk-based solution, staff in an office can be released for other duties and third-party tape management costs eliminated. The inherent security risks that go with external tape management are eradicated, too.
 
“By fully embracing disk libraries, Irish enterprise can move into a new era of modern data storage and make themselves far more competitive,” he said.

This reflects an IDC report saying the amount of information managed by enterprise data centres will grow by a factor of 50 globally, with the number of virtual and physical servers rising by a factor of 10.

“It has never been more pressing for businesses and organisations to switch their storage practices from tapes to electronic disk libraries,” said Ward.
 
“Relentless data growth, especially in unstructured data, will put growing pressure on information technology departments to increase the cost efficiency of storage systems.
 
“Data retention is a major issue for companies in hedging against any legal risks, including the protection of intellectual property and human resources disputes.
 
“So, it makes sense across many fronts for Irish companies and public sector organisations to move from tape to disk,” said Ward.

EMC’s Jason Ward will be a panelist at the upcoming Digital Ireland Forum in Dublin on 30 September 2011. For further information on speakers and panelists go to the website.