Data overload puts UK retail sector under pressure

The challenge of managing and archiving increasing volumes of customer, product and purchasing data is causing 68 percent of UK retail companies to review their data storage requirements, according to a survey of 200 IT directors in the retail sector by Vanson Bourne, commissioned by networking storage distributor, Zycko. However, over half of respondents admitted delaying their storage procurement until the last minute because ‘they are baffled’ by the complexity of the storage technology on the market, while 48 percent cited lack of IT support for the solution as a major obstacle.

The research provided a detailed overview of the data storage challenges currently faced by large UK retail organisations and highlighted why these companies are reviewing their storage requirements, the barriers to adopting new solutions and the key factors determining their next storage purchase.

The main reasons causing IT directors to rethink their storage strategies are increased data volumes, the need to archive information which was cited by 90 percent of respondents, disaster recovery and backup (68 percent) and the need to be compliant with recent regulations or legislation (63 percent).

All respondents confessed to delaying storage procurement until it is in response to an immediate business need because of budget restrictions and the complexity of the storage technology on the market (40 percent) and the lack of in-house support to help implement new solutions were also listed as major barriers to adoption. 73 percent claimed that they needed support from a supplier with a proven track record in the data storage market to help them put in place a longer-term data storage strategy.

David Galton Fenzi, Zycko group sales director commented, “Safeguarding customer, supplier and purchasing information is imperative in the retail sector, but companies are clearly struggling to manage escalating data volumes - a factor which is being compounded by recent regulatory compliance pressures affecting data storage. Whilst almost 70 percent of retail companies are reviewing their storage needs to address these problems they are delaying storage procurement until the eleventh hour. Only responding to immediate storage needs is a risky strategy which could place their companies at risk of non-compliance and also from the inability to recover data following an unforeseen event.”

“Taking the knee-jerk approach to storage procurement currently favoured by the majority of retail companies will also lead to far greater costs down the line.  Instead, companies need to plan more strategically for the future, look at how they can get the most out of their existing IT architecture and select open-systems scalable storage solutions that address both immediate business needs and future storage requirements. The retail sector is more advanced than most industries in its approach to data storage, however, IT director needs to think longer term, consult independent experts who understand their storage challenges and can explain the complexities of the technology and help them implement a long term storage strategy. Only then will their data management challenges be alleviated.”

•Date: 23rd September 2005 • Region: UK • Type: Article •Topic: IT continuity
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