2020 Data Governance Trends Report Shows Risks, Rewards of Remote Work
In August 2020, Egnyte partnered with Wakefield Research to survey 400 C-Level IT executives from across the U.S.* to understand how the remote work revolution is changing their governance strategies, and what they’re doing to get ahead of this sea change.
The result is Egnyte’s inaugural Data Governance Trends Report, which illustrates how the COVID-19 pandemic has forced technology leaders to reimagine data governance plans in the context of remote-first (and remote-only) working conditions. It reveals new and emerging security threats associated with the work-from-everywhere paradigm, and digs into the strategies companies have adopted (and plan to adopt) to keep up. While companies face a diverse set of challenges, several major trends emerged:
Remote work is driving more data sprawl than ever before. Seventy-six (76) percent of IT executives are concerned about unstructured data sprawl, and more than half say remote work is the main culprit.
Remote is risky. Away from the office, 29 percent of employees are accessing corporate files through unsecured WiFi networks and on personal devices with no password requirements. On average, they report 47 percent of files contain sensitive information.
Employees aren’t doing enough to protect sensitive information. Just 29 percent of C-suite IT executives give their employees an “A” grade for following policies and procedures to keep files and documents secure.
Nobody loves their content management architecture. Ninety-seven (97) percent of CIOs say that content management is rife with problems, citing as examples files sitting on unsecured devices, data loss, and mismanaged permissions.
The digital future is automated. To take the load off workers, more than half of companies plan to invest in AI and machine learning to automate content management and data security.
Click here to read the full Data Governance Trends Report. For a closer look at the results, and fresh insights from the Egnyte team, register here for the Data Governance Deep-Dive webinar on October 27.
* The Data Governance Trends Report was commissioned by Egnyte and conducted by an independent firm, Wakefield Research (www.wakefieldresearch.com). The study was fielded between July 31 and August 12, 2020 using an email invitation and an online survey. Respondents comprised 400 U.S. C-Levels with Technology/IT titles at companies of 100 or more employees.
Photo by Paul Hanaoka on Unsplash
