Data storage may be proving mysterious for many company owners.
Most company owners are aware of the need to implement data storage and disaster recovery technology to protect the information they use.
However, confusion about what actually needs to be kept and for how long could mean that firms are going way beyond the precautions they need to take and so are actually wasting money.
This is the warning from Gartner, which said companies worldwide are wasting a total of $10 billion (£6.3 billion) by backing up and retaining data unnecessarily, Computer Weekly reports.
"That is a conservative figure and I would suggest the real figure is three or four times that amount," said Gartner’s research vice-president Dave Russell.
Although this may seem to be operating on the safe side and being responsible with data archiving, it could be overloading systems as well as creating a false sense of security.
He also explained that businesses are investing too little in backup technologies, as spending on this is typically up to 20 times lower than on networking and servers.
"Backup can be an integral part of disaster recovery and high availability and it can be repurposed for data mining and patch deployment," Mr Russell commented.
Once again though, even company owners who are using backup technology may not be getting it right, as the expert said he often sees a lack of discrimination between the storage of business files and of employees’ personal data.
"If you are backing up people’s iTunes libraries, that is a big problem," he pointed out.
However, when done properly, data storage can have tangible benefits for businesses.
Last month, law firm Sackers and Partners told Channel Biz it has had two million documents converted into digital formats for storage, something that is helping it to stay on top of its paperwork.
It can be difficult to understand data storage requirements, so it is vital to speak to experts in the field if you are unsure.
Dajon Data Management will be able to advise you on every aspect of the technology, so feel free to get in touch for a tailored consultation.