-Horizontal Technology IT Issues

Horizontal Technology IT Issues

The IDC sizing of the digital universe � information that is either created or captured in digital form and then replicated in 2006 � is 161 exabytes, growing to 988 exabytes in 2010, representing a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 57%. This is about 3 million times the information in all the books ever written.

IDC has found that �Information workers� spend;

14.5 hours per week reading and answering email
13.3 hours per week creating documents
9.6 hours per week searching for information
9.5 hours per week analyzing information

IDC estimates that an organization employing 1,000 knowledge workers loses $5.7 million annually just in time wasted having to reformat information as they move among applications. Not finding information costs that same organization an additional $5.3 million a year.

IDC also expect information management compliance to continue to be big business. Spending on just the hardware, software, and computer services to develop an IT infrastructure to support compliance initiatives is expected to double from 2006 to 2010 to $21.4 billion worldwide. The email archiving market alone is expected to be a billion dollar software and hosted services market by 2010, up from $471 million in 2006.

We have identified some information technology specific problems in the table below. Over time we would like to add to this table by getting input from the problem experts - you! If you are aware of significant technology related pressures across industries, please take a moment to compete the form below the table. The most commonly reported problems will be added to the table. Highlighting the problems in this manner will attract greater focus on approaches to addressing the main issues.

Back to previous page

Technology Area	Example Problem Area
Data Proliferation	The growth in data is phenomenal. Getting the right information to the right people at the right time remains a herculean task for many businesses. It is also estimated that typically over 80% of business information is held in unstructured forms, often not readily accessible to information workers. However, in a knowledge intensive world, timely critical information (regardless of data format / source) is essential for businesses to make the right decisions and deliver quality services.
Integration Issues	Technology systems have often been implemented with a departmental viewpoint, perhaps not considering the wider business needs and relevant enterprise / industry standards. Problems arise when cross departmental information and process needs are required to adequately run the business. Many integration solutions are time consuming and expensive to implement, especially if proprietary technologies are involved.
Security & Compliance Challenges	To compound the ongoing security challenge, a flood of regulatory compliance requirements place an extra burden on the organization and its scarce resources. Non compliance is not an option.
Ageing Application Tools & Methods	The 'cut and paste' tools of the present may be hindering individual and group productivity compared to collaborative Web 2 tools now being adopted by some organizations.
Process Malfunction	The combination of the above issues often lead to ineffective and inefficient business processes within the organization. The increasing need to collaborate with external enterprises and partners also compounds the issue. These process issues have a detrimental impact on the business.