In 1906 there was an Italian economist named Vilfredo Pareto. One day, strolling through his garden, Pareto noticed that every year, 20% of the pea plants in his garden produced approximately 80% of the peas.
This got him thinking about economic output on a larger scale. Sure enough, he began to find that in various industries, societies and even companies, 80% of the production often came from the 20% most productive portion.
This became known as the Pareto Principle, or what is now often referred to as the 80/20 Principle.
The 80/20 Principle states that 80% of the output or results will come from 20% of the input or action.
The 80/20 Principle has historically been most popular in business management situations. Businesses often found that roughly 20% of their customers brought in 80% of their sales. They found that about 20% of their sales reps closed 80% of the sales. They found that 20% of your costs led to 80% of their expenses. Microsoft and other tech companies have found that 20% of the bugs they found create 80% of the problems for their users.
Sachowski, J. (2016). Implementing Digital Forensic Readiness. Elsevier.
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