Druva Predictions for 2015

   These predictions were proposed by Rick Powles, regional VP EMEA, Druva, Inc.
 
While a lot of discussions in the data centre and the boardroom alike today seem to centre around the migration of corporate data to the cloud, with one of the main reservations being the (perceived) security issues, another concern around information protection is quickly rising to the top of the agenda and it stems from one of the fastest-growing trends in recent years: data mobility. BYOD is no longer just a buzzword but a widespread custom, found among employees in many businesses as it helps them to increase their levels of productivity in the modern workplace.

And most employees today are mobile at least some of the time, using a mix of corporate and personal devices. As mobility increases so do the risks to company data.

Employees tend to use multiple devices, spreading corporate data across them, and because the IT department does not always manage mobile devices, that data is at risk if a device is lost or stolen.

In response to this trend, we will see companies in 2015 spend more time, effort and budget on solutions to meet the challenges accompany a mobile workforce.
 
1. Corporate data in the wild will remain a worry
Data protection will continue to increase as an area of focus and concern. With 75% of the workforce now mobile, a significant portion of corporate data is now located outside the datacentre and away from the IT manager’s control. This means that sensitive business information is stored on laptops, smartphones and other devices that are easily lost, stolen, or damaged. Plus the increase in mobility has also contributed to rising amounts of data, new data types, and data dispersion. In my own dealings with end users I have noticed that many IT managers are fully aware of existing threats to their companies’ data, such as the loss of laptops and other devices, but many have not yet found an effective way to better control and protect their data, which inevitably results in the on-going risk of loss of valuable, irreplaceable data. In addition, with ever-increasing regulations and updates in data privacy and retention laws, organisations are legally required to properly store and protect company data, regardless of the device.
 
2. Organisations will increase efforts to regain control
In the past couple of years critical information has fallen into the wrong hands many times and next year we will see companies take firmer action to regain control of their data. Losing data can cost corporations millions of dollars. For example last year, the Royal Veterinary College breached the Data Protection Act when a member of staff lost a camera holding a memory card that contained the passport images of six job applicants. Also, with the average employee using 3.3 connected devices according to recent Forrester research, businesses will rethink how they govern their corporate data: centralise governance efforts, revise corporate governance policies, and look more and more for integrated solutions to manage data across the organisation.
 
3. Technology providers will offer new solutions
The Forrester study mentioned above found  that 84% of organisations see technology as a viable approach to enforcing and executing governance in the next one to two years. This figure is a significant increase from the 61% from two years ago. As centralised corporate governance becomes a mission-critical strategy in 2015, organisations will grapple with how to manage their distributed data, many through multiple tools, which may or may not have built-in governance capabilities. We will see new technologies emerge in response to this, to help organisations regain control of the sprawling data landscape, and to identify and manage data, regardless of its context. We’ll also see increased spending on backup protection, which most businesses rely on to protect valuable information from theft, loss or damage by disasters such as floods or fires. Spending in this space will rise and specifically we will see an increase in endpoint backup, which organisations will use to ensure that copies of corporate data are stored centrally (in either the datacentre or cloud).
 
Organisations face many data protection challenges driven by employee behaviour and, despite concerns we’re only going to see workforce mobility increase. Therefore, in 2015 IT managers will need to equip themselves with the tools and technologies that will allow them to take ownership of all corporate data, storing it centrally in the data centre or the cloud, and ensuring that data is protected and governed as it exists across a range of mobile endpoint devices. This year will be about doing just that.