8 September 2005 Nearly half of UK-based businesses do not have a document and information management strategy despite the explosion in volumes of corporate data being generated, according to the latest research.

A survey of IT professionals at the Documation-UK event found that although awareness of the importance of effective information management was high, the awareness of legal requirements was still poor.

Nearly half of those interviewed said their company still did not have a document and information strategy in place; over a fifth said company information was still held only as hard paper copies.

“Moving to an electronic information management system allows businesses to store, secure and account for data, whilst still providing easy access and sharing facilities for the relevant personnel,” said Bijan Bedroud, regional vice president for North Europe at Vignette.

According to the research, the top four information management priorities were: retrieving documents quickly; collaboration between departments on joint documents; consolidating information management; and data security.

“Following the adage that knowledge is power, and recognising that knowledge is often derived from information, then enterprises should be smarter and more powerful than ever,” said Barry Murphy, an analyst at Forrester.

But, he added, the reality is far from it: “Most enterprises are drowning in a sea of unorganised information, unable to leverage its full potential.”