This research looks at corporate data management in mid-2010, focussing on email management and the adoption of cloud computing solutions.
The following report looks at corporate data management in mid-2010, focusing on email management and the adoption of cloud computing solutions. This survey of IT decision-makers sheds light on how corporations view their data, how they manage the email systems that transmit information, and where cloud solutions fit into the landscape of corporate data management.
The research examines how corporate decision-makers balance concerns about security and control with the need to manage costs and maintain scalable systems. It also examines attitudes toward data, information security, value and management.
The findings indicate that the majority of participants see data management as a crucial factor in business success/failure, with email systems increasingly a holding pen for corporate intellectual property. However, this does not mean that data is always well managed.
‘Patchwork’ email systems are common, with many companies attempting to manage email through a variety of disparate applications, each handling a single function (such as security or archiving), in addition to the core email application. This leads to cost and complexity over time.
Cloud-based architectures present a potential solution to this problem. While concerns about security and control are still very common among both users and non-users of cloud services, users of the cloud see these as outweighed by cost advantages, direct and indirect.
In short, cloud computing appears to provide an antidote to some common email management challenges for companies which adopt it.
The research was conducted online in May and June 2010, among IT decision makers in companies of 50 employees or more. Respondents were screened for budget and strategy visibility, and those with system-specific or administrative roles were excluded.
Interviews were conducted in the UK (200 respondents), and the United States (302 respondents.) The survey was conducted by Loudhouse Research, an independent consultancy headquartered in the UK.