Intelligent CIO North America Issue 25 | Page 82

FINAL WORD

Managing the challenges of unstructured data

Scotty Calkins , Sr . Systems Engineer , Datadobi , discusses four key current challenges of managing unstructured data and evaluates potential solutions .

Let ’ s face it : today ’ s unstructured data environments are chaotic . Masses of redundant , obsolete or trivial ( ROT ) data sit collecting dust on network shelves , the sheer volume of unstructured data keeps getting larger , and heterogeneous storage structures eliminate the chance of a uniform standard across a network .

The multi-vendor world we live in makes it impossible for IT to rely on native unstructured data management features from each individual storage vendor or cloud provider . This new age we ’ re in is what I like to call the ‘ Wild West era ’ of unstructured data management . Enterprises that manage to be successful in this new frontier of unstructured data will have a serious edge over competitors , but those who fail to adapt will be left in the dust .
IT leaders can ’ t navigate it alone . Consider the following key challenges IT leaders must address if they are going to win in the unstructured data showdown against the other ‘ sheriffs ’ in town :
Four key current challenges of managing unstructured data :
1 . Keeping costs under control . As terabytes turn into petabytes , burgeoning demands on IT resources continue to mount . Between juggling increased budget allocation responsibly , compounding project demands , and timely sourcing of
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