What is a key benefit of conducting a data audit?

Conducting a data audit primarily serves the purpose of ensuring data quality and compliance. This process involves a thorough examination of the data to assess its accuracy, completeness, reliability, and relevance. Effective data audits help organizations identify inconsistencies, gaps, or inaccuracies in their data, which are crucial for making informed decisions based on that data.

In addition, a data audit helps organizations ensure compliance with regulatory requirements and policies regarding data management and protection. By adhering to these standards, organizations mitigate risks related to data breaches and legal issues, thus maintaining the integrity of their data handling processes.

The other options focus on aspects that, while relevant to data management, are not the primary objective of a data audit. For example, increased storage capacity pertains to the physical or cloud infrastructure used to store data, improved team collaboration relates to how teams work together on data tasks, and reducing processing time focuses on operational efficiencies rather than the quality and compliance of the data itself.