The eMag Link Monthly Articles

April Edition

Ensure the Integrity and Availability of Your Data

Ensure the Integrity and Availability of Your Data

This is the first part in a series of 4 editorials that aims to look at the need to ensure the integrity and availability of data stored on tape within YOUR organization. Each part will take an in-depth look at the products, processes and services that are available to you to help ensure data integrity, reduce risk, improve performance and ultimately lower your cost of ownership.

While it is generally understood that investing in a hi-tech storage infrastructure is half of the battle; the way in which the information is then managed throughout its lifecycle remains the crucial factor if it is to ever be retrieved. The implementation of corporate governance and compliance policies and procedures requires organizations to look at the entire process:

From the quality of the media in the first instance to the conditions in which it is stored
From the policy to which it is backed up and then archived to the measures that are in place to ensure business continuity and third party neutrality should the data need to be extracted and presented in court.

This series of editorials will be broken down into the following sections:

The legislative environment: internal and regulatory compliance - what are the challenges facing organizations today?
The proactive approach to media management: defined product selection, sample archival testing, library audits, environmental audits, chip scanning and tape management through MM/TMS.
The reactive approach to media management: data recovery, tape analysis/technical support, data conversion/migration, legal restores & file restoration.
eDiscovery - why would my organization need a third party organization?

Part 1: The legislative environment

Internal and Regulatory compliance - what are the challenges facing organizations today?

The question has been asked a thousand times: - How will your organization cope if a regulatory requirement results in your organization needing to produce company data in a specific timeframe? As imperative as this problem is, it is not the only issue facing your organization; you also need to address the question: - how do you ensure the integrity of your data when you suspect foul play?

Due to increasing compliance demands resulting from legislation like SEC requirements, HIPAA and Sarbanes-Oxley, 'Corporate Governance and Compliance' is the phrase being muttered at the boardroom level in recent months. This has resulted in considerable strain being placed upon IT departments to achieve best practice in the management of the data held within the organization. Placing this responsibility solely on the IT department is the fundamental mistake of so many organizations that are now running into difficulty. The effective storage, protection and deletion (when appropriate) of company information needs to be the result of changes throughout the entire company including policy, process, technology and most importantly; people.

In the litigious environment resulting from both regulatory and internal compliance, it is increasingly difficult for organizations to ensure accessibility and integrity, especially relevant if information needs to be presented in court. Data needs to be managed, stored and protected in the first instance. However, when a disclosure order means that data needs to be extracted and then presented in a readable format for further investigation or for court; time restraints often mean that this process is best left to the experts. This not only offers credence to any evidence produced, it also enables the organization to continue with everyday operations without disruption while under investigation.

Despite the coverage corporate governance and compliance has received in the technology press, many organizations are still not giving the matter the attention it deserves. Just recently KPMG announced the results of its global survey and stated that only 59% of respondents said their organization took corporate governance and compliance seriously. *KPMG Global Survey. Therefore, while many companies are listening to the advice and are ready for any eventuality, there are still many who are seriously unprepared. In order for your organization to achieve prepared status, you need to look at each stage of your data management lifecycle and ensure that best practice procedures are adhered to and every eventuality has been covered. To find out more about how to achieve best practice in your organization, read part 2 of this series, where we will be covering the implementation of a proactive approach to media management.

This article may be re-published as long as the following resource box is included at the end of the article and as long as you link to the email address and the URL mentioned in the resource box:

Article by eMag Solutions. For more articles on eDiscovery and Data Restoration, subscribe to our e-mail Newsletter by sending a blank email to newsletter@emaglink.com or by going to http://www.emaglink.com.

Call Me Now

Submit a request for an eMag rep to call you immediately.

Newsletter Signup