VARs urged to pursue data compliance sales

Channel opportunities for sales of storage hardware, software and related services still exist in the data regulation compliance area, according to research by AIIM, an independent enterprise content management organisation.

The survey, which questioned 223 UK firms with over 1,000 employees, discovered that 38 per cent of respondents admitted that their email management systems were in ‘complete chaos’. Also, more than one-third of respondents were operating without a clear compliance strategy.

Additionally, only 16 per cent admitted to understanding that the data compliance concept relates to information within ERP and to customer relationship systems. However, 60 per cent of respondents also failed to realise that emails fall under compliance requirements for enterprise content management.

Atle Skjekkeland, vice-president of AIIM Europe, told CRN: “These findings highlight a widely varying and inconsistent understanding of how to deal with sensitive company information, clearly indicating the struggle that companies are facing in mounting systematic policies to meet the compliance challenge.

“It is clear that to deal with the pressures of compliance effectively, one of the key issues that must be faced head on by organisations is the management of electronic information.”

Steve Derbyshire, managing director of storage VAR Telamon, told CRN that many end-users do not have a clear understanding of the various data compliance regulations, such as Sarbanes-Oxley.

“There are lots of regulations and this confuses the end-user, but it also represents a good opportunity for the channel in terms of training,” Derbyshire said.

“Some channel players are also now targeting their storage hardware and software sales around the data archival or compliance message.”

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