As organizations are looking to modernize their technology estate, many remain burdened with legacy data, costing millions of dollars a year to host and maintain. The risks posed by legacy and redundant, obsolete and trivial (ROT) data present a very real threat in today’s progressive cybercrime landscape.
In this post we’ll consider the hidden costs associated with legacy and ROT data across an increasingly complex and fragmented digital footprint. In a three-step process of identification, validation and remediation, we’ll explain how businesses can significantly lower costs and eliminate risk.
The legacy data challenge
According to recent figures, legacy systems make up between 25% and 50% of business IT. Legacy systems are outdated and unsupported hardware and software upon which the business still relies for core business processes.
Organizations can also be dependent on legacy systems because of the data they retain, as a result of regulatory obligations. The lack of integration between legacy systems and modern applications creates data silos – often of highly sensitive data – that are vulnerable for exploitation.
In addition to the legacy data hosted on these systems, businesses hold vast stores of data that is redundant, obsolete and trivial (ROT) – data that is no longer required, out of date or irrelevant. While ROT data can exist anywhere within the enterprise, it is most exposed when it resides in the forgotten data silos of legacy systems, on insecure endpoints and poorly configured cloud environments.
The hidden costs of legacy and ROT data
Financial
- Storage – There are ongoing costs associated with storing legacy data, including server maintenance, cooling and power, as well as data center hosting. The increasing number of cloud-based ROT data stores also accrue significant service costs. According to some estimates, the global enterprise data storage market is projected to reach $159.11bn in 2025, and $219.10bn by 2029.
- Maintenance – According to reports from Forrester and Dell, most organizations spend 60-80% of their IT budgets maintaining existing hardware and legacy systems. Running a single legacy system can cost businesses $30m, on average.
Risk and compliance
- Cybersecurity – In 2024, IBM reported that the average cost of a data breach was $4.88m globally, increasing to $9.77m for healthcare – a sector that relies heavily on legacy systems. Legacy systems and forgotten stores of ROT data are more vulnerable to cyber-attacks. The lack of developer support means that vulnerabilities remain unpatched, and basic cybersecurity controls such as role-based access (RBAC), password complexity or multi-factor authentication (MFA) may not be available.
- Privacy compliance – Legacy systems and hidden ROT data can lead to non-compliance with laws and regulations including GDPR, CCPA, HIPAA. This can be costly in the event of a data breach or reported violation.
Operational
- Operational inefficiency – Integration issues between legacy systems, often using outdated data formats, and modern systems require costly custom development or highly inefficient, manual processes to access and retrieve data.
- Employee productivity – Accessing and retrieving data from legacy systems, and identifying and cleansing ROT data across fragmented networks, rely on manual, labor-intensive processes limiting productivity.
- Missed opportunities – Modern businesses rely on the ability to interrogate data for analysis and interpretation, using AI and automated decision-making, to drive business strategy. Legacy data may be held in formats incompatible with analytics tools, while unmanaged ROT data risks diluting the value of the analysis process with poor quality, outdated information.
Three steps to manage the legacy data risk
Legacy and unmanaged ROT data comprises sensitive personal data or business information that is targeted by cybercriminals and can be more exposed and vulnerable to breach.
By cleaning up legacy data and managing ROT data, organizations can significantly reduce their operational costs and lower their risk. A simple three-step process makes this achievable:
- Identification – using advanced discovery tools identify personal data and custom sensitive information across legacy systems and ROT data stores
- Verification – consult with data and system owners to verify that identified data is no longer required for any business purpose
- Remediation – remediate all obsolete data using secure deletion
Managing legacy and ROT data with Enterprise Recon
Enterprise Recon is a critical tool for organizations tackling the burden of legacy and ROT data. Providing deep visibility into where outdated, redundant and obsolete data resides – including within legacy systems – Enterprise Recon helps organizations identify and manage this data effectively.
Through a structured process of identification, verification and remediation of legacy and ROT data, businesses can decommission aging systems, reduce data sprawl and eliminate unnecessary storage and maintenance costs. More importantly, they can significantly lower their exposure to compliance violations and cyber-threats.
By actively managing legacy and ROT data, organizations lay the foundation for a cleaner and more secure digital environment – ready to support modernization and future growth.
To find out how Ground Labs can manage your legacy data, arrange a complimentary data risk assessment or book a call with one of our experts today.