That's what episode 01 is about
With the episode “Research and Fileserver”, our new podcast Meet a butcher started a beer sommelier in IT on November 16.11.2020, XNUMX. Partnermanager and beer sommelier Karsten Morschett invited CEO Thomas Gomell to this conversation with a special beer.
The beer of the day
The choice of beer fell on a Bavarian lager from the Weihenstephaner brewery. Drinkable, malty, one could also say illuminating. This enlightening Bavarian beer goes particularly well with the episode, as it also deals with the ongoing research project “Dare2Delete” at the University of Bamberg.
Chaos on the file server
While the University of Bamberg deals extensively in its research project with the subject of why many are concerned about separating themselves from things in their private and professional areas, we are more interested in the professional context in the conversation.
Thomas Gomell deals intensively with the problem of "chaos on the file server". He has been working in data and rights management for 15 years. A good 10 years ago it was primarily projects in the area of authorization management, in the last 5 years there have been more data management projects. It can be observed that the enormous growth in data caused most of the problems in the projects being processed. Once data was considered a supposedly desired blessing, today it has often become a curse. Interesting: 5 years ago there were an average of 5.000 files per user. Today there are already 20.000 - 40.000 files per user. This amount has an extreme effect on the profitability of the company. Therefore, migRaven has developed a solution to get the data growth under control and to free the individual user from the useless amounts of data.
Big data as a problem?
Karsten Morschet asks himself: So is big data a problem?
Thomas Gomell points out that big data is very exciting, but only if the data is available in a structured form. Only then can these be processed by machine in a highly efficient manner. However, he speaks of unstructured data, class prose. These are difficult to manage, hardly usable and difficult to analyze. The directories are overflowing with this unstructured data. The problem: There is usually no suitable exit strategy for this data. This is exactly what migRaven wants to change with its solution. It offers an orderly exit strategy and at the same time increases the efficiency of employees. It is important not only to get an idea of the prevailing data structure, but also of the psychological effects of removing obsolete data.
The problem with cleaning up
It is widely believed that many employees have a problem with cleaning up. On closer inspection, it is noticeable that the specialist departments would definitely like a leaner directory structure. It is important to bring together the interests of the IT department (1 TB or 100 TB) and the interests of the specialist department (100 files or 100.000 files per user).
Erase data without the pain of separation
Having to part with data can create some kind of separation pain. This is what the University of Bamberg says in its research project. However, Thomas Gomell's experience has shown that a good basis for decision-making in the form of key figures prevents the pain of separation. Because: migRaven shows the current situation in visual form. With this security you can part with outdated data with no regrets.
Can the user clean up himself?
Even if Karsten Morschett is often told by IT admins that users cannot or do not want to clean up. It is not like that. Thomas Gomell urgently advises the departments to be trained. The recipe for success lies in giving users the competence to manage their own data themselves. This “data owner principle” has proven itself at migRaven for 10 years.
Exit strategy for data
Since every user has very individual requirements for the filing structure, the solution has to offer a balancing act. Provide a framework on the one hand, and allow flexibility on the other. The trick is, with the help of the exit strategy, not to let the mountain of data grow so high in the first place. The amount of relevant data always remains the same.
Storage space isn't the problem. What makes the data chaos really expensive.
Various studies, for example the Study on the slim office of the Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Engineering and Automation, state that every user in a company wastes a good 10 percent of their working time searching for documents in chaotic file directories. For a 40-hour week that is 4 hours.
Thomas Gomell also makes it clear that there is also potential for savings (e.g. storage space optimization) in the IT department. However, the much greater effects can be observed in the departments themselves. Anyone who manages to sustainably minimize employee search times avoids a loss in the 7-digit range. Increasing the effectiveness of employees in dealing with the file system is therefore of decisive importance.