33% Report Certain Corporate Data Need to Be Archived for 20 to 50 Years

Rimage Corporation, in secure multimedia content management and delivery solutions, announced the results of their 2012 Data Archiving Study.

In a survey of over 100 business executives conducted online in September, Rimage found that 98.4% of business executives believe there are consequences when a company fails to properly archive data and 33.1% report that certain types of corporate data need to be archived for as long as 20 to 50 years.

The results underscore the increasing amount of value being placed on data, including 93.5% of respondents who said that some files urgently need to be kept secure.

The top categories of data executives
cited for longer storage and security included:

• Financial records – 66.1%
• Medical records – 65.3%
• Legal documents – 53.2%
• Corporate secrets – 50%

With executives stressing the value and longevity
of data archiving,
an overwhelming majority (98.4%)
say there are consequences
when this is done improperly, including:

• Important IP could be lost – 81.5%
• Company could fall out of compliance with the law – 73.4%
• Company could be fined – 52.4%
• File recovery could be slowed down – 51.6%

Interestingly, executives’ demands at the company mirror those they are implementing at home. Fully 9 out of 10 executives (89.5%) say they plan to keep their digital family photos for life, with 62.9% saying the same of their medical records.

When asked what types of personal data require a hard copy backup such as an optical disc, it’s not surprising then that 72.6% said family photos. This was followed by personal videos (47.6%), bank statements (38.7%) and credit card information (35.5%).

Hard copy backups of personal data proved thematic throughout the responses, with 91.1% of executives saying they prefer to receive a disc along with any new software they buy and 85.5% saying the same of the music they purchase. The top reason in both cases proved to be the risk of computer crashes (75.8% and 54.8%, respectively). Additionally, 86.3% say they like to receive their personal medical records on a disc, citing the security of that data as the top reason (45.2%).

"The results of our research demonstrate that despite the growth of online storage, some content requires local, physical storage options like optical discs," said Rick Backlund, WW product manager at Rimage. "That’s why Rimage released the Rimage Producer IV series disc publishing system, even as we invest in online alternatives to disc."