The world of information management is one of the fastest-moving in business judging by the events of 2017 – and 2018 could be the year when it starts to catch up with us
Rapid changes in technology and software systems have resulted in many companies failing to protect their business against software obsolescence.
As a result, long-term digital preservation is set to be a major growth area next year and beyond, as companies seek to hold onto their corporate memory.
Changes in legislation are also likely to have an effect on the industry next year alongside increasing storage costs and a boost in global data handling.
1. Long term digital preservation
It is estimated that 98% of organisations need to keep digital records for the long-term because of issues relating to compliance, legal defence, litigation and enduring corporate backing.
For example, nowadays building firms must keep a full record of all projects – from blueprints to what batch of steel was used during construction.
In a lot of cases, this information is expected to stay on file for 30-40 years after building work is completed, in case repairs are required or a legal case arises.
With such vast amounts of information needing to be saved, we are seeing more and more companies utilising cloud services such as Amazon Web Services, Office 365, Google Box and Dropbox.
This is a cheap and effective short-term solution but, poses a real threat in the long-term. Software and hardware obsolescence is a constant challenge.
In fact, in reality, any content older than 10 years is at risk of becoming unreadable as hardware, operating systems, programmes and file formats continue to rapidly develop and deliver more complex user experiences.