Only 6% of UK enterprises archive social media content, a new survey has revealed.

The Osterman Research survey, conducted for bluesource, covering archiving, eDiscovery and content management activities of UK organisations, found that improvements are needed in enterprise archiving practices.

Nearly 60% of respondents said they possess inadequate eDiscovery capabilities to cope with data compliance or legal claims.

Better storage capacity and faster search were cited as key features that will motivate many organisations to seek new archiving solutions over the next 18 to 24 months.

The research has highlighted that 94% of the organisations surveyed don’t currently archive social media content, such as employee posts to Twitter, corporate posts to Facebook or content from enterprise social media systems.

It also revealed that only one in five UK organisations surveyed could impose a reliable litigation hold on various types of social media content. This is alarming due to the risks that can result from inappropriate use of this medium on corporate networks.

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More worrying revelation if the study, however, was that many organisations are exposed to legal claims being made against them as they don’t possess effective processes and systems to swiftly respond to a claim.

Nearly 60% of UK-based organisations surveyed considered their eDiscovery capabilities to be incomplete, despite the fact that 73% believed it is important to retain electronic business records for compliance and legal purposes.

When questioned about their current archiving solutions, few organisations are completely satisfied with their experiences. The majority stated that improvements are required in storage capacity, speed of searching, maintenance costs and the ability to archive all of the content types required today – and in the near future.

“Based on research I have conducted in the UK and US, it is clear that organisations need to the take seriously the potential threat of their archiving systems not satisfying their eDiscovery or regulatory requirements,” said Michael Osterman, founder of Osterman Research.

“As a result, organisations that have implemented an archiving solution should seriously examine its capabilities to determine its ability to meet current and future, corporate requirements.”