T 3.31 Unstructured data organisation

Inadequate specifications and/or a lack of training of the employees can result in unorganised storage of the data on the data media used. This can cause various problems such as the following:

• a waste of storage space due to storing multiple copies of files,
• premature deletion of data or failing to delete data since no one knows what data is stored in which files any more,
• unauthorised access if files are located in directories or on data media that are made accessible to third parties,
• inconsistent versions in different directories and on different IT systems.

Example:

A new employee with little IT experience was not instructed on how to store data in an organised manner. Problems occurred after just a short time because the user stored all files in the main directory without creating a single subdirectory.