Veritas Technologies has unveiled the findings of its 2018 UAE Databerg Report, which underlines that ‘dark’ data – whose value has not yet been identified – accounts for the majority of data (48%) that is stored and processed by organisations in the UAE.
The findings highlight the vast and as-yet-untapped potential to leverage the prevalence of dark data, to drive transformational growth across the region.
One hundred respondents in the UAE, covering all key sectors – including government and business – were surveyed for the report on enterprise data management. It focuses on identifying the pervasiveness of ‘databergs’ – reflecting the data hoarding culture – and the risks associated with allowing data growth to continue unabated.
The survey highlights that while dark data accounts for 48% – compared to 52% globally – organisations in the UAE are taking more control of data. Clean data – which has been tagged or classified – has more than doubled from 8% in 2016 and now stands at 19%, which has led to a significant reduction in Redundant, Obsolete or Trivial (ROT) data decreasing from 43% to 33% in the past two years.
Damian Wilk, Senior Regional Director – Middle East, Veritas, said: “The UAE has been taking the lead in adopting advanced data management – which is reflected in the noticeable decrease we’ve seen in ROT data over the past two years. However, the large volume of dark data that persists in the UAE points to the fact that managing dark data is becoming a business-critical issue for organisations. By identifying the value of such data, organisations can move towards faster decision-making, greater operational efficiency and increased productivity. By illuminating the dark data and erasing ROT, organisations can assume stronger control of their data management. Veritas can help in identifying dark data, exposing the risks and extracting true value for organisations.”
In other key findings, the report points out that the public sector entities carry the most burden with 42% redundant data, followed by industry (36%), finance (33%) and utilities (30%).
While finance sector entities store 58% of their data as classified or tagged, public sector entities come second at 53%. On average, more than half the data (52%) that organisations store is classified or tagged. On average, just over one in three (36%) of all organisations removes redundant data regularly on a monthly basis. Nevertheless, efforts to clear obsolete data is gaining speed; 59% of public sector firms clear unnecessary data every month, while 50% of utility firms do so every quarter and the other 50% annually.
