Cloud systems could provide a means to deal with the expanding data world
The world of IT has shown little sign that it will experience a slow down in the rapid growth that it has enjoyed over the previous decade, and data capture continues to be one of the many expanding areas of the virtual universe.
Whether people visit the doctors, use a cash point or transfer money, much of the information provided is now held in electronic document storage on computer systems rather than in physical files.
Indeed, with the range of records that everyone from businesses to healthcare trusts are now acquiring, keeping all of these details in offices would leave little space for much else, and one expert believes that cloud technology is one of the best ways in which companies can manage their data in the future.
"If you have your IT infrastructure in the cloud, you can pretty easily expand that and make that able to handle even large volumes of data very quickly," said Steve Sarsfield, data governance blogger and author.
Being able to store, process and access extensive volumes of information can be particularly beneficial to big businesses and their employees, and a digital mailroom could be far more effective than filing away endless streams of written correspondence.
Cloud systems rely on adequate data protection to ensure that the records they store cannot be compromised – especially given the rise of cybercrime and the risk of identity theft – so this is another aspect that the virtual world has to take into account.
As the world of information continues to grow, the abilities of computer servers to properly handle the increasing reams of files transmitted among and between networks every minute will also have to increase.
Commenting on the scope for further development in the data world, Mr Sarsfield added: "I can’t see where it’s going to end – we will have data growing levels."