ECM Briefs

There’s no lack of research telling us that it’s time to move beyond terabytes and petabytes and start thinking in terms of exabytes or even zettabytes when it concerns the world’s data. While those numbers often include transitive data such as TV transmissions, phone calls or junk mail, it’s clear that the amount of information that needs to be stored, cataloged and managed continues to grow at an astounding rate. For corporations facing a daunting array of government guidelines and the ever-present threat of litigation, all this data represents an especially large challenge.

Ten years ago Motorola faced such data management challenges as islands of information (fileshares, individual websites), no enterprise search and no easy way to publish and share information. To address the challenge, in April 1997 Motorola deployed an Enterprise Content Management solution based on Open Text software. Now, 10 years later, Motorola uses ECM software to manage 16 million documents, 20 million versions, 33 terabytes (100 GB per day or 2 terabytes net growth per month), and 70,000 users world-wide.

Needless to say, Motorola’s experience shows that while the amount of data is indeed vast, proper implementation of enterprise-class software can keep it from mushrooming out of control. You can learn more about how Motorola achieved user adoption, advanced ECM, shaped knowledge managers, and created a culture where content is expected to be in the system during a March 29, 2007 Webcast featuring Brad Bosley of Motorola’s Corporate IT group.

In the meantime, look here to bone up on your exabytes and zettabytes.