As for the 80%, it wouldn't at all surprise me that it's an example of the
Pareto Principal at work: 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pareto_principle

Lots of examples in there. But this might form the basis for what others
have already noted - that it's a number that "sounds good" in a number of
contexts. 

I certainly think ARMA (through the AIEF?), AIIM, ESDF, and others could do
something to get better numbers here but I'm not sure the resulting number
would have any more meaning or any more validity than the ones managers and
others expect to hear. 

WRT the PwC study, same thing. Someone could generate better numbers but
probably won't find anything substantially different from the "study" at the
end of it. I have seen, and downloaded, and read, studies from the IDC for
example that cite the following stats regarding knowledge workers:
- 10.5 hours spent searching/week 
- 3.5 hours spent searching unsuccessfully (of that 10.5)
- 3.0 hours spent recreating information that could not be located 

SOURCE: "The High Cost of Not Finding Information", Susan Feldman and Chris
Sherman, IDC, 2001, reprised at least in 2003 as cited in KMWorld here:
http://www.kmworld.com/Articles/ReadArticle.aspx?ArticleID=9534 (note that I
cannot provide the original source as it is copyrighted by IDC. But I have
it in my possession.)

Regards - and one month to ARMA 2010! 

Jesse Wilkins, CRM
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(303) 574-0749 direct
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/jessewilkins

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