The true cost of bloated WebCache files to businesses

New research from user profile and web data management specialist Avanite has revealed that bloated WebCaches are causing significant losses to businesses in terms of productivity, IT costs and data security.  The research highlights that the huge volume of data generated by simple web browsing and using web-based applications is becoming increasingly problematic for businesses.

Avanite's research shows that even modest web browsing by users can cause a business with 1,000 employees to lose an average of 233 working hours per month waiting to log on to web resources as a result of oversized WebCaches. These delays threaten business productivity, and can lead to increased calls to IT helpdesks as employees react to the increasing slowdown.

When users browse the web, their data browsing history and temporary internet files are stored, and the websites download data such as cookies to their computers.  Web pages also contain links to other websites, which in turn open connections to the third party allowing them to download data to the machine. Up to 80% of cookies stored in WebCaches are from third parties, and are used for targeted advertising and tracking user behaviour.

Data and cookies in users' WebCaches can grow to 300MB or more per machine, increasing storage costs, network requirements and reliance on IT support while slowing user login times by up to 30%. Web data is the primary cause of slow logons, and can represent up to 90% of the overall logon time.

WebCache bloat also presents a security risk, as it can contain sensitive information such as usernames and passwords to critical systems that store personal identifiable data. It's also not possible for organisations to track how third-party tracking cookies share employees' data, which can threaten a company's GDPR compliance.

This problem is greater for organisations using Windows 10, where web data is integrated with core functions leading to WebCache sizes which are double the size of those in Windows 7.  As businesses become more mobile, data grows as it is downloaded to users' computers, smartphones and tablets and made available to each device remotely. For organisations using web hosted applications, the issue is further compounded by the need to install multiple browsers onto employees' devices to counteract compatibility issues.  As a result, these oversized WebCaches can lead to unnecessary storage fees, whether kept on premise or in the cloud.

Francesco Giarletta, Founder and Director at Avanite Limited, said: "Web data poses a very real problem to organisations. It's largely invisible to users and IT teams, but it's a significant drain on IT resources wasting time, costing money, and endangering sensitive information.

"Avanite WebData Control is the only software available today which has been designed specifically to address these issues, reducing the negative impact of browsing on business. It enables organisations to get control of the problem. After using WebData Control, our customers reduced logon times by over 80%, and the number of cookies in a typical WebCache from typically 5,000 or more to just a few hundred."