Active archiving approaches -- long directed at email -- are becoming more comprehensive and including additional content, such as unstructured information, according to an IDC multiclient study. Archiving will become more integral to information management initiatives, particularly for larger organizations, according to the study. In addition, non-technology stakeholders will continue to play a large role in purchasing decisions.

"The initiatives driving active archiving spending are more about information management than about archiving, although archiving may be a technology that is used to achieve policy objectives," said Laura DuBois, program director for Storage Software at IDC. "Projects form around information management, records management, and electronic discovery."

"Archiving is a priority for midsize to the largest firms", added Vivian Tero, research manager, for Compliance Infrastructure at IDC. "However, larger firms view archiving in the broader context of information management, in particular for non-technical stakeholders. The far greater opportunity for suppliers is in providing a larger information management portfolio of solutions rather than just providing a solution for archiving."

Among other key findings from the study include the following:

• The drivers for archiving will continue to include compliance with record retention requirements, improving the efficiency and accuracy of ediscovery, and achieving overall IT optimization gains.
• Information reuse is a sophisticated sell. Leveraging information in an archive for innovation, new product development, or improved customer service aligns with business unit or C-level executive objectives.
• Future archiving solutions need to address a broad spectrum of content types, initially more unstructured than structured content.
• The role of ediscovery in archiving purchases is important across firms of all sizes because it presents the greatest risk, disruption, and unknown to the firm.

In addition to publishing this multiclient study, IDC will hold a briefing on this topic in San Mateo, Calif., on Jul 24, 2008.

About this study

This IDC multiclient study, "Active Archiving: Retention, Preservation, and Reuse", presents the results of quantitative and qualitative research on current and future adoption of active archiving solutions based upon retention, preservation, and knowledge management drivers fueled by regulatory compliance, legal ediscovery, and increased market competitiveness. Also examined are key requirements, vendor and hosted/on-premise preference, adoption drivers, and purchasing inhibitors for different archiving strategies and intentions. Data is analyzed by company size and functional role.

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