Businesses worry about long-term data storage

Businesses fear that, with the speed at which technology changes, they won't be able to read their corporate data in the near future. And that seems to be a big issue, as many businesses want to be able to read its archived data for at least 50 years in the past.

This is according to a new report released recently by Crown Records Management.

Files created in Word Perfect or Lotus 123, or multimedia content stored in the .MOV format, are in danger of becoming obsolete. Anything stored on floppy drives, as well.

More than nine in ten share the same fears, while almost three in five think it is vital to keep corporate records for more than 50 years.

A third of IT decision makers say they regularly review the formats on which their electronic data is held, while almost a fifth said they don't have systems set up to preserve electronic information stored for more than five years.

"These results provide a real insight into a compelling topic for all businesses now and in the near future," says Dominic Johnstone, head of Information Management Services, Crown Records Management. "Long term digital preservation hasn’t made big headlines so far but many companies may be in for a shock because the reality is that any information which is 10 years old or more is seriously at risk. The speed at which software and hardware evolves is forcing old formats to quickly become obsolete and there is no guarantee they will be readable in future."

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