So much data is being produced on a daily basis that governments from around the globe met to introduce new prefixes to the International System of Units. According to Nature, by the 2030s, the world will generate a yottabyte every year — 10 to the power of 24 bytes, “or the amount that would fit on DVDs stacked all the way to Mars.”
This data “avalanche” has resulted in companies collecting more data than they know what to do with. There are increasing concerns about how to adequately protect that data and what tools they need to collect, process, and review data from disparate data sources. As a result, organizations are turning to powerful data processing platforms to improve the process.
Types of Data Being Collected
Companies no longer just track transactions. They track multiple points of interaction with the brand, including website visits, mobile app usage, and social media engagement. Data can be categorized into the following categories:
- First-Party Data – Data that is collected directly from users through the organization.
- Second-Party Data – Data that is shared by another organization about its customers that has applications for other businesses in the industry.
- Third-Party Data – Any other collection of data that is rented or sold by organizations that do not have any personal connections to your company or its users.
- Qualitative Data – Data can be broken down into descriptive terms such as color, size, quality, and appearance.
- Quantitative Data – This type of data typically involves numeric assessments that utilize statistics, polling numbers, and other percentages.
Meanwhile, enterprise applications are growing and account for 56% of all company app ownership — up from 4% year over year — according to a CIO Dive article. Most departments use between 40 and 60 different applications, and the number grows to more than 200 companywide. The resulting increase in data volume and sources brings new security and management challenges.
Why Data Consolidation Applications Are Needed
1. Meet the Demands of Growing Data Volumes
Can corporate legal teams reduce the data they need to collect, store, and process? Trying to be more selective with data collection may be more of an idealistic solution that is not feasible for much longer, given the sheer volume of data being produced.
Simple data reduction used to make it easier to secure and verify data accuracy, but companies need to adjust their plans to include data consolidation tools to address the growing volume that needs to be tracked. Using modern-cloud based eDiscovery solutions such as Casepoint can help companies navigate massive stores of data far more quickly than human operators alone and can facilitate more timely and thorough data analysis.
2. Offset Labor Shortage and Burnout with Efficient Programs
According to an article published in Forbes, the field of data science is experiencing considerable labor scarcity. Reducing the amount of data being tracked is unreasonable, so the solution is to work smarter — not harder.
How? Automating processes with applications that are more efficient. It will reduce the data workload considerably for the 97% of data engineers reporting burnout on the job, based on a Wakefield Research study of 600 engineers. To future-proof data collection strategies in a data-rich society that lacks the labor resources to meet such high demand, leveraging applications or platforms designed to intelligently organize and consolidate data is key.
3. Avoid Regulatory Fines, Legal Fees, and Negative Brand Impact
In light of legislation like the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), it’s important for companies to be compliant with data privacy laws.
Hefty fines can result. For instance, GDPR infringements can result in fines of up to €10 million or 2% of annual revenue, whichever is higher. More severe infringements rise to €20 million or 4%, respectively. Businesses that operate outside of the EU and California still need to protect the data privacy of their users in light of expensive lawsuits. CSO Online published a list of the top 15 biggest data breach fines and penalties in the early part of 2024, which amounted to $4.4 billion.
Preserve Company Integrity and Maintain Efficiency with Data Integration
Using technology solutions with better data consolidation capabilities and advanced security measures helps corporate legal teams prevent costly breaches and fines while safeguarding brand reputation.
To avoid data misuse and preserve company integrity, legal teams need to implement data governance programs that encrypt data for safe data collection and storage. Using legal discovery platforms with robust data processing to unify the data that is collected will ultimately reduce a company’s liability while increasing its efficiency and data visibility for improved predictive analytics.
