The innovation of the internet has made our access to data explode. Back in the early 1990s, if you wanted to research a subject, you had to go to the library and flip through books, magazines and archives. Now, you can do it all online and find even more data. We store data everyday on our computers and the amount of data we have access to is mind-boggling.
Every year, data more than doubles, mainly because of the internet. Anybody can create information, which translated into data and we have more scientific studies than ever before. This type of growth makes it hard to manage and store all the data necessary. However, with a company such as LSI, it can become much easier. The right storage solution makes all the difference.
What to Expect Moving Forward
The past ten years have been absolutely crazy, but the next ten will make the last decade look docile. Experts estimate data usage and storage will grow by more than 4300% annually through 2020. One large reason for this growth is the switch from analog to digital technologies. Another is the large amount of data generated by individuals, such as bloggers and by corporations.
Social media has caused a large amount of the data growth, as well. Called unstructured data, pictures, videos and other social media data has caused the need for changing databases from relational to non-relational. This change is necessary and as data creation grows, we will likely see evolving databases and storage solutions.
The Largest IT Challenge
Data growth remains as the largest IT challenge for most large companies. Large enterprises must support and store data they create and many experts believe a large amount of new data created will be stored on The Cloud. Regardless of where the data is stored, many businesses will find it challenging to grow their solutions as the data growth explodes.
Some of the ways to handle this challenge include:
Connecting extra units through frames or pass-throughs
Swapping out old equipment for new, larger storage
Using cloud storage solutions
Outsourcing data storage to a professional management company
The good news is that many companies are working very hard to solve the data growth issue. Companies specializing in network solutions and data storage are working on new ways to help companies and individuals store data. They are upgrading data centers and using new technology capable of storing more data on smaller, more sophisticated machines.
The other part of this IT challenge is securing the data. Not only will companies need to provide adequate storage, but they must also provide the right security to ensure external and internal hackers don’t steal any of their data. These two challenges put together, are on the top of many IT department’s lists for the New Year, as they know data growth will only continue.
What to do With All That Data
Many companies and individuals don’t have an IT manager to handle the issues of data storage and security. What do you do with all the data? Most don’t have any idea how to organize it, what to do with it or how to understand it. This has sparked growth in then data storage industry and with the help of the right company, data storage and security can become much easier.
Individuals and small businesses may not be able to provide enough room or financial support to create their own data center. They can use a professional data center to help with their storage needs. Even large corporations are starting to outsource this task because their need for new equipment is outgrowing the space they have and the budget for IT manager to monitor the machines.
It’s no secret data growth is one of the largest challenges facing the technology industry. Many people are working very hard to solve these issues, which will lead to large investments made in new equipment and services to handle the challenge.
