UPDATE Oct 5th, 2017: Check out my colleague Paul Kleinknecht's response: http://blog.shinydocs.com/note-from-our-vp-on-file-shares

If you appreciate and understand the need for information governance, you should hate your file shares. Users find them easy to use, but shared network drives and folders pose a major threat to data security and governance. Most organizations site operational efficiency as a top priority so the idea of executing on more workflows is compelling if not crucial. Having 85% of all corporate data sitting in file shares works directly against the concept of efficiency. The enterprise needs to find a way to understand and harness this data.

 Why exactly are shared drives still so widely used? Shared network folders impose a significant cost to organizations that rely on information and are not suitable as record-keeping systems. Sure they're familiar, easy to use, and hugely convenient, but that isn’t enough to tip the scales in their favor. Let’s consider some of the problems with shared drives that has 9 out of 10 organizations looking to scale back or remove theirs entirely.

How much risk are you exposed to as an organization living with documents out of a structured repository. You know you’re sitting on information in legacy systems and shared drives. How much information is gathering on users desktops because they refuse to jump through the hoops necessary to upload information to the ECM. No one has time to be constantly uploading versions on documents being actively working on.

Yes, your organization is harbouring a subversive, many headed beast that appears to be working in your best interests but is in fact bent on corporate destruction.

If your organization relies on Line of Business applications to get work done, maintain the system and shore up your day to day practice you may be at risk. Organizations the world over rely on LOB systems to fuel their business from proposals to invoices, contracts, forms and essential records.

But it has a nefarious agenda bent on creating silos of information and casting doubt on the veracity of documents as users question whether they’re in possession of the latest version. It delays processes and hampers informed business decisions. Evil!