I wonder if the Pareto optimization rule (aka the 80/20 Rule) applies to data and information?
In hindsight, you probably need less than 1% of the information you collect to actually run your business and make decisions. Of course, much like the old joke about advertising, you just don’t know which information that is ahead of time.
The “just in case” collection of data seems like an insurance policy to make sure that you have what you need when you need it.
While the storage of extra data doesn’t cost that much on an incremental basis, it does add to overall system complexity. This is related to the “There’s a Field for It” post in the challenges of cataloging and retrieving the information that it creates.
Information isn’t free and it doesn’t really want to be free either.
Having more data point adds enormous system costs which is fine as long as it adds value.
The problem is figuring out how valuable data is and how best to keep it so that value can be extracted.
