Archive - November 2000
Stop Hoarding! Improve Security, Efficiency and the Bottom Line through an Effective Data Retention Policy
Organizations are accumulating data at a pace that would cause a hoarder to blush. Just like that old bicycle seat stored in the attic, data is often kept “just in case it may be needed someday.” This practice, however, comes at a cost.
Some organizations think that it is inexpensive to store data, especially with the steady decline in hard drive prices. The fact is, however, data is expensive to keep. Organizations spend a significant portion of time managing, archiving and securing data. Data is housed on servers, each of which must be maintained. Data is also archived regularly according to the organization’s backup schedule and it is audited and secured against loss. Each of these activities consumes the time (i.e. increases the cost) for those in information management.
Reducing privacy and compliance risk with data minimization
Eric Vanderburg
What if I told you that you could reduce risk and costs at the same time? Skeptical? I would be. It sounds like some cheesy marketing ploy chuck full of hidden costs or high upfront costs with low ROI. No, I am not pitching a product or trying to sell you a solution. I am however trying to get your attention. I am talking about data minimization.
Companies collect millions of gigabytes of information, all of which has to be stored, maintained, and secured. There is a general fear of removing data lest it be needed some day but this practice is quickly becoming a problem that creates privacy and compliance risk. Some call it “data hoarding” and I am here to help you clean your closet of unnecessary bits and bytes.
