@RW, @RogueElement
My 2 Zimbabwean dollars worth: ...when starting at a new contract, my first question always furrowed brows: "ok, show me what you've got, where it is, and where do you want to go from to get to where"... the usual BFO (bleedin obvious) question. One would expect a flaky .doc, .xls, even a crayon-inspired .ppt, but no...the answer is inevitably "Er Uh", as in "er, speak to him", or "uh, dunno", or "er, "its a work in progress"... ad nauseum.
The main thrust of the article was data identification and protection. Actually, might as well give it all to an external provider and go SaaS anyway, as at least they *have* to have some idea of where it is (SLA, penalty clauses etc).
@RW: offers rationale as to why this is... those in power to make decisions that affect the long-term viability of IT rarely have the capability to understand fundamental concepts: e.g. if you sell off the ground floor to a munitions expert, don't bet the farm on guaranteeing the structural integrity of the upper floors that you rely on for your business (they also shirk the culpability when things do go legs-up).
@RogueElement
Vaguely related to the topic, but a poignant distilled synopsis of UK Ltd - fully expect to see this lifted and used ad verbatim in European parliament by a non-UK MEP member... should be hilarious.