Storage Squeeze

The online boom of eCommerce has come with many challenges. The volume of data businesses generate has been steadily increasing every year, and this data is also a valuable resource. Companies can no longer afford to simply delete documents and forget about them. Every bit and byte matters.

Businesses of every size in every sector are now suffering from the storage squeeze, and are facing increasing costs when managing and maintaining their data either in house or through cloud services. What can be done to address the problem? Are any solutions on the horizon? Let’s find out.

Document Deluge

Across the world, hard drives are creaking under the weight of a document deluge. All the bits and bytes of trillions of documents are pushing servers and storage systems to their limits as businesses are compelled to hold on to both important and unimportant records. Nothing seems to get deleted anymore, and everything also gets backed up. This is causing problems for IT departments everywhere and costing companies money every month in hardware or cloud storage services.

There are many good reasons for holding on to just about everything, but something has to be done to ease the burden on our IT systems. Not all files are equal. Some of the most commonly used file types can take up far more space than they should, and PDFs are an oversized culprit for cluttering our hard drives. SmallPDF can help. Their Compress PDF program can reduce the size of any PDF file by up to 99% and drastically reduce the amount of space these files use on all your servers. Even your backups will shrink in size. With a PDF compressor like SmallPDF’s, every business can save time and money on data storage while still having full access to their files.

Data Deep Dives

The documents, files, and data businesses generate have become incredibly valuable. By analyzing these files they can glean insights into their processes and customer behaviors to find new ways to market their products and speed up their services. Deleting data is like throwing money away. Every company, no matter its size or sector, needs to start harvesting information from its data to survive in the digital age. Keeping hold of all those files year after year is putting an increasing level of strain on the IT infrastructure that powers modern businesses.

The volume of data every business generates is growing every year too. Just when a company thinks it has its data needs under control, a new wave of bits and bytes washes up on its shore. Growing businesses suffer in particular, especially if they have started up recently. It is easy to become a victim of your own success and struggle to maintain good data handling practices as the sales begin to skyrocket. Data management is becoming an increasing cost to businesses in both time and money, and all of these files need to be carefully curated to provide data analysts with the resources they need to do their job.

Clear Skies On The Horizon

Most businesses are turning to cloud storage to solve their data storage problems, but this is a quick and temporary fix. The scale of storage that big businesses need comes at a high price. Cloud services are raking in the big bucks as businesses scramble to find space for the vast amounts of data they generate every hour of every day. This convenience comes at a steadily escalating cost, and at some point soon businesses will have to evaluate the situation and decide if they would be better off handling data storage in house.

The swing away from cloud computing is already on the horizon. As the costs of energy and hardware have increased dramatically in the past few years. Energy prices for running huge server farms that offer constant connectivity have seen a significant increase, and this cost is being passed down to the businesses that use them. Supply chain issues are also pushing up the hardware costs, with demand for new IT infrastructure far outstripping the available supply. All the factors are combining to increase the cost of cloud data storage and are forcing businesses to look for more cost effective solutions to the problem.

Finding Solutions To Data Storage

The biggest obstacle to businesses that want to take back control of their data is the human and material infrastructure needed to operate them. It requires a lot of consistent, technical work to maintain data servers and ensure they are operating to their full potential and providing businesses with reliable resources. Cloud servers have also changed the game. They are accessible from anywhere and at any time. This feature adds to the stress and strain IT workers face and increases the level of hardware needed to provide this service.

Businesses are being faced with a difficult choice during a time of disruption. Installing and operating data servers is an expensive investment, but when the cost is amortized across many years it becomes competitive when compared to cloud services. The problem is that technology is constantly improving, and a lower cost solution to data storage could be just around the corner. Cloud storage businesses are also aware of the challenge facing them and are doing everything they can to reduce costs and create a cheaper service without a drop in quality.

Some businesses are hedging their bets and making some extra investments in data storage, while also contracting with a cloud company to provide some space for their data. In the current climate, which route to take is unclear and many businesses are waiting it out to see where they should spend their money.

The storage squeeze is real and so is the struggle that businesses face when deciding how to manage their data going forward. Small businesses have a small advantage, as the level of data you have to deal with scales with your business. If you have a solution to long term, large scale data storage you could become the tech world’s next billionaire.