Phase Four: Preserve

All data does not carry the same “time value” to the enterprise. Some might have a very short “shelf life” in which it is used as a raw material at a given point in time, but then serves no purpose over weeks, months, or years. In other cases, a particular transaction or business document may be needed to satisfy multi-year audit requirements. Some industries require incremental data points to be kept for as long as they own that asset in order to track its performance over time. And this is just for the “structured data” side of the house. When you consider "unstructured data," i.e., business documents, invoices, diagrams, schematics, and other types of “unstructured” data, the sheer number of data-preservation scenarios can become overwhelming.

Contrasted with these varying needs is the cost associated with keeping “all data for all of time.” Without a defined retention strategy, mission-critical systems can be bogged down with transactional detail that may not be accessed for years. Placing data that is useful, but not necessarily needed at a moment’s notice, on high-end hardware and storage devices inflates the infrastructure requirements for the enterprise. And, above all, finding the data in a time of need becomes a process of sifting through mounds of unrelated information.

Having the right policies in place also involves protecting the data with the company’s interests and liabilities in mind. Managing the permissions to change data (including record of the change) is paramount in addressing legal, regulatory, and business requirements.

From Stonebridge’s perspective, effective data preservation is not only necessary to meet external requirements; it is good business. From the inside out, the right approach to the life cycle of data within the enterprise can bring with it reduced risk and improved business relationships.

Stonebridge advocates the following best practices in Data Preservation:

• Not all data is created equal. This should be reflected in any retention strategy.

• Be practical. There are many “what if” aspects to retaining data, but those should be balanced against cost, benefit, and maintainability.

• Records management and audit policies should help drive internal data retention procedures and related infrastructure.

• Leverage the capabilities of new technology to reduce the manual effort related to enforce these policies.

• Incorporate transaction retention mechanisms so that while still available on request, past-time transactions do not affect the performance of day-to-day operations.

• Secondary data stores — in the form of data warehouses, data marts, and other operational repositories — are an accepted way to reduce the source system burden without sacrificing productivity.

Return to the Stonebridge Approach.