The age of data
We live in a digital age; an age dominated by data.
Data is currency. It powers business decisions and shapes our futures.
Yet how many of us stop to think where our data is hosted? Are we comfortable with it being where it is?
To find out, we recently surveyed over 1,000 UK and Irish businesses. Our goal was to ascertain just how important data location is to them, and whether recent geopolitical shifts have caused them to re-evaluate their perspectives.
We found the results to be very interesting, so we thought we’d share them with you as fuel for thought.
Key findings
- 39% of businesses expressed concern about where their data is hosted
- 72% are worried about hosting their data in the USA
- 1 in 6 businesses are seriously considering moving their data
Let’s take a look at the results in more detail.
Globally distributed data
A third of the businesses we surveyed host their data with one of our various UK or Irish brands, suggesting that keeping it within the UK and/or EU is a key consideration.
The remaining two thirds use a diverse range of providers, but global behemoths such as Google, Microsoft and Amazon dominate the results. Whilst this does offer ease of access to data, it doesn’t provide much control over which country that data is located in.
Around 13% of those who responded use their own on-premise server, suggesting that the desire for data control is very important to them.
Geopolitics driving change
One of the most insightful findings from our survey is that a sizeable 39% of businesses have recently started becoming concerned about where their data is located. It’s not just the directors; we found that concern is also being expressed by staff members and customers.
Additionally, when we specifically asked about the USA, a staggering 72% of respondents were anxious about the possibility of their data being hosted there.
1 in 6 businesses told us they fully intended to move their data in the near future; in fact, a number of them had already started the process.
The message here is loud and clear: recent changes to the global geopolitical landscape are causing many businesses to think long and hard about the status of their data hosting.
Summary
It’s clear from our findings that there is growing anxiety within the corporate world about where business data is stored and who could potentially have access to it. The fact that customers and employees are expressing concern as well indicates that geopolitical changes are causing ripples across all walks of life.
What about you? Do you know where your business data is hosted and has anything you’ve seen on the news recently caused you to start thinking more carefully about it?
Let us know in the comments or get in touch with us on our various social media pages. We’d love to hear from you!
