In this conversation, Olly and Ben discuss the increasing demand for data storage and its implications for data centres, sustainability, and data management. They explore statistics indicating that a significant portion of stored data is never accessed, raising questions about the necessity of expanding data storage capabilities. The discussion also touches on the environmental impact of data storage and the challenges organisations face in managing their data effectively, particularly considering compliance requirements and the growing volume of redundant data.

Takeaways

• 60-73% of enterprise data is never used for analytics.
• 80% of stored data by some companies is never accessed.
• 52% of stored data is classified as dark, with unknown value.
• 33% of data is considered redundant, obsolete, or trivial (ROT).
• The environmental cost of data storage is rising due to increased energy demands.
• Data centres need to expand to accommodate unnecessary data storage.
• Organisations often lack awareness of the true value of their data.
• Maturity assessments can help organizations understand their data management practices.
• The growth of data is doubling every second year, leading to more ROT.
• Pressing delete on unnecessary data could alleviate storage issues.