• Organic growth of storage systems has led to massive disconnects in many organisations
  Silos of data and of data management tools have grown as multiple solutions within organisations have grown. However, as organisations have attempted to rationalise and integrate the applications, the data has often been left in a chaotic state.
• Many organisations view all data as having the same value
  A lack of understanding between the concepts of "data" and "information" means that much data of low value is being stored multiple times on expensive enterprise storage systems.
• Data in itself has little value to the business
  Data needs to be turned into information - from information comes knowledge, knowledge helps decisions to be made. A data and information management strategy needs to enable this process.
• Much data is held insecurely against the needs of the business
  The lack of information policies, and the tools to enforce such policies, is creating security loopholes that many organisations are unaware of.
• It is time for a review
  The management of data as information assets requires a review of an organisation's approach to storage. Tinkering with existing systems may not work, and may make matters worse over time.
• An integrated approach is required
  Data and information systems that are tightly integrated, based on a single code base will offer the best opportunities to create a solution that meets the business's needs.
• The key areas for data and information management must be supported
  Data discovery, classification, policy enforcement, security, data backup and restore, archiving, mirroring, audit and secure deletion (purge) should all be provided.
• Abstraction allows for greater flexibility
  Moving the data away from being fixed to linkages with the underlying physical assets provides a basis for greater flexibility, enabling data migrations and hardware upgrades that cannot be carried out otherwise.

Conclusions
As volumes of data continue to grow at a rapid rate, new approaches to data and information management are required. Ensuring that chosen systems provide a high level of function while allowing ongoing flexibility and durability is key.