Unstructured Data Management: How an ECM Can Help You Declutter Your Data

How much data do you think your business has – and how much of it do you think is unstructured?

Businesses today manage, on average, about one petabyte of data each. That’s enough data to fill 20 million tall filing cabinets, or the equivalent of 500 billion pages of printed text. 

From there, consider the fact that as much as 90% of that data is unstructured, meaning it’s difficult to search, organize, and analyze, and essentially invisible to your team. Unless, that is, you have a proactive plan for unstructured data management. 

Keep reading to learn more about the unique challenges involved with managing unstructured data, as well as how enterprise content management (ECM) software can help you solve them. 

What is unstructured data management?

Unstructured data management is the use of targeted practices and tools to organize, store, and process the types of data that don’t easily fit into a predefined data model or framework. 

This generally applies to things like:

• Office documents
• PDFs
• Scanned documents
• Emails
• Chat transcripts
• Computer system logs
• Images and videos

Challenges of managing unstructured data

Unstructured data lacks a clear structure or format, and thus doesn’t fit into any existing organizational frameworks. As a result, it tends to end up in a sort of informational abyss, separate from your main data stores and so jumbled that it’s hard to pull out any real value. 

Specific challenges related to the management of unstructured data include:

• Difficulties with data storage and retrievals: Unstructured data lives in multiple, disparate locations, adding more obstacles to retrievals and greatly increasing data storage costs. 
• Reduced data security and compliance: Data stored outside of existing frameworks lacks some key security and compliance features. This complicates the task of maintaining data security and meeting compliance standards, particularly in regulation-heavy industries like healthcare and banking. 
• Data silos and integration issues: Unstructured data tends to be siloed, leading to inefficiencies in processing and a major obstacle to integrating data across platforms. 
• Reduced cost management and scalability: Research by McKinsey suggests that unstructured data costs the global economy about $3 trillion per year. That’s a ton of money wasted due to inefficiencies in unstructured data management. 

Unfortunately, traditional data management systems (such as shared network drives, SQL databases, and DMS platforms) simply can’t keep up. For that, you need specialized unstructured data management solutions, including things like ECMs and automatic processing.

How ECM software helps organizations put unstructured data to use

When it comes to making the most of your company’s data, few tools are more beneficial than ECM software. 

The right ECM can iron out your approach to unstructured data management, and mitigate or eliminate the many challenges presented with managing this type of content. Here’s how. 

Centralized storage and access

An ECM provides you with a centralized repository for unstructured data, rather than leaving it to float in some sort of text-based outer space. This streamlines your storage initiatives for broader access to, and the enhanced utility of, your unstructured data. 

Easier search and retrieval

As far as unstructured data management software goes, ECMs are especially good at improving data retrieval outcomes through automatic tagging, metadata management, and search functionalities, providing more value without more manual labor. 

Improved security and compliance

ECM platforms are designed with robust security measures and compliance controls that apply to both structured and unstructured data, so you can protect sensitive information and meet industry-specific regulations with ease. 

Data integration and elimination of silos

You can integrate an ECM with various systems and applications, which reduces data silos and improves interoperability across departments. You get more out of the data at your fingertips, and more opportunities for multi-department collaboration. 

Scalability and cost-effectiveness

An ECM is inherently scalable since you can just increase storage or users as your company grows. This means you can handle ever-expanding volumes of unstructured data without dealing with a proportional expansion in costs. 

Choosing the right unstructured data management software

ECMs are one of the most efficient and cost-effective unstructured data management solutions. If you choose well, the platform you go with will offer a one-stop shop for data scalability, integration, security, and search, with additional features like records management that help you further maximize data utility. 

As for which ECM platform you go with, the first thing you should consider is the type of ECM that will work best for you. 

• Cloud-based ECMs: Data storage on a remote cloud server, providing security-backed access to your full database on any approved device.
  • Pro: Scalable and accessible
  • Con: Requires internet connection
• On-premises ECMs: Content management on your own corporate network, managed and monitored internally.
  • Pro: Strong security
  • Con: High upfront costs and routine IT costs
• Hybrid ECMs: Partial data storage on-premises, partial storage on the cloud.
  • Pro: Flexibility
  • Con: Risk of unintentional data silos

You may also want to consider looking for an ECM with AI capabilities, such as automatic data classifications and intelligent workflow management. 

An ECM could be the missing piece of the puzzle when it comes to your struggles with unstructured data management. Consider adding this tool to your current data operations, and finally put your unstructured data to work for your business. 

Systemware is a leading ECM platform that integrates with existing tools to manage unstructured data and optimize content storage, search, and retrieval. To see for yourself how Systemware can boost efficiency and productivity for your business, schedule a demo today.