Technology has enabled businesses to collect vast amounts of information about their customers, employees and their operations. More data has been collected in the past two years than during the rest of the existence of the human race. To give this a sense of perspective, it is reported that 40,000 search queries are performed using Google every second, and more than one billion people use Facebook in just one day.

However, big data is not particularly useful until it has been analysed to solve a problem. Therefore, businesses are investing in analytics tools to extract ‘big answers’ from big data. The intrinsic value that can then be realised from big data is becoming recognised as a new asset class.

As with any type of valuable asset, businesses should plan to protect their data, and in doing so identify where the best location is to store their data. It is easy to think that this issue solely concerns cyber security. However, the risks to data extend beyond hackers and IT failures, and you can only start to appreciate this once you consider data in the same way as you would any other asset. For business planners to create a safe environment in which to protect their data assets, here are my top five reasons why they should store their data in Guernsey.

Authored by senior associate Stephen Ozanne, this article first appeared in EnVoyage Magazine.