Content and data management for sustainability includes effective data gathering, storing and processing to meet the sustainability goals of organizations.
With the upsurge and spread of the digital and technological revolution, massive volumes of data are created daily. It is predicted that by 2025, around 463 exabytes of data will be generated daily. For context, it would take about 2,37,832 years for a video conference to generate 1 exabyte of data. This tremendous quantity of data created has prompted businesses to put their business-critical workloads and apps within data centers. However, data centers that process data and content consume significant energy, generate heat and require large amounts of cooling, which can lead to high carbon emissions and other environmental impacts. Additionally, the extraction of raw materials used to produce data storage devices and other technology can negatively impact the environment.
To reduce the environmental impact, various organizations have decided to go green. This has given rise to green data centers and sustainable data management practices. Green data centers are designed to use energy-efficient technology and practices to minimize energy consumption and carbon footprint while using renewable energy sources. Sustainable data management describes the procedures and methods used to gather, store and process data to minimize adverse environmental effects. Together, green data centers and sustainable content and data management can help to minimize the environmental impact of data storage and processing.
ACHIEVING GREEN OBJECTIVES THROUGH SUSTAINABLE CONTENT AND DATA MANAGEMENT
Sustainable content and data management can develop green businesses by empowering organizations to make more informed decisions, increase operational effectiveness, and reduce environmental impact by adopting the following ways:
UNDERSTANDING UNSTRUCTURED DATA
The first step in managing data footprint is to gain a comprehensive perspective of all company’s unstructured data—on-premises, at the edge, and in the cloud. This will give an insight into how much cold data (data that is not accessed in months or years) is stored in expensive high-power storage. By correctly identifying and managing cold data, businesses can reduce their data storage costs, reduce energy consumption, and ensure that data is appropriately managed and disposed of when no longer needed. This can help to create a more sustainable and green content and data management.
AUTOMATING DATA ACTIONS USING POLICIES
Automating data actions by policy refers to using software or other tools to automatically perform specific actions on data based on predefined policies or rules. This includes activities such as data archiving, deleting, monitoring and more. A fundamental principle of modern data management is automated policies that control data mobility throughout the data lifecycle. An organization will save hundreds of thousands of dollars a year on data storage and backup expenses due to this, in addition to saving energy and money on electricity bills. It is no longer feasible or sustainable to treat all data equally by putting it permanently on the most expensive and high-performance storage. Therefore, automating the data actions can lead to sustainable content and data management.
In this digital era, data is considered as valuable as gold for organizations. However, organizations globally are storing extreme amounts of data without intelligent technologies, causing an impact on sustainability. Sustainable data and content management practices can help organizations reduce their adverse effects on the environment and help achieve overall sustainability goals. Additionally, sustainable content and data management can result in cost savings, higher productivity, and better decision-making, contributing to the growth and development of a more sustainable and green business.
