Legacy data — backup tapes, file shares, PSTs and other storage media — when kept indefinitely has no value or purpose. But it can create expensive havoc and costs that can be avoided if the data is properly managed, and destroyed when business and legal retention requirements expire.
Even ignoring electronic data discovery costs, the cumulative infrastructure and operational costs of hoarding data and data media are enormous. Many organizations have hundreds of thousands of unneeded tapes and terabytes of electronic files that have not been looked at in years, incurring significant backup, maintenance and storage costs.
