Go Understand Data Archiving

What is data archiving?

Data archiving, or content archiving as it is often referred to, is a computerised system that enables an organisation to retain critical information including documents, databases, financial data and any other data that may be required for future use or inspection at some point.

It is similar to the generic term of archiving, such as in a library where books and papers are archived for the general public to search for and retrieve when required. Data archiving allows employees within your company to access saved information. By archiving data your business can easily store and retrieve information that is vital to your company. A data archiving system can also help your business to comply with corporate governance guidelines, and can in some cases help reduce the cost of data storage.

The future of data archiving

The data archiving market is set for continued growth because organisations are often required to retain information in order to comply with international codes of conduct and in many cases local legislation. This means that many organisations must retain key data in order to comply with these rules for a pre-set number of years. These rules are unlikely to be relaxed. Indeed if anything, they are likely to become more rigid. This, together with the fact that data retention periods are getting longer, is likely to increase demand for content archiving systems.

As a result of these codes, information needs to be readily available and this scene is set to continue especially in light of activities such as the Enron scandal, and 911. Both had a major impact on the way that content is viewed, primarily as with case with Enron, is that information was withheld and some cases destroyed in order to cover up illegal activities. With regards to the 911 tragedies, it became apparent that terrorists could misuse company assets, mainly computer networks and internet access, in order to plan terrorist activities.  

Why data archiving

One of the main reasons why you should consider implementing a data or content archiving system is to comply with the legislation or codes of conduct.

Some examples of legislation/codes of conducts are listed below:

• Sarbanes Oxley. [http://www.sarbanes-oxley.com/]
• SEC rules 17a-4. [http://www.sec.gov/rules/interp/34-47806.htm]
• HIPPA. [http://www.hipaa.org/ ]
• European Union 8th Directive. [http://www.8th-company-law-directive.com/8thCompanyLaw.htm ]

These generally require businesses to retain key business information. Failure to comply can result in large fines or sanctions.

(Please note that this list is not conclusive and you must be aware of particular legislation that may affect your company and your specific requirements).

You should also be aware that:

• Companies, company directors, and users can be held liable for failure to retain documents and records.

• Electronic documents are admissible before a court of law (UK Civil Evidence Act 1995).

• UK Applicable Laws include:

• Vicarious Liability, e.g.
• Defamation Act [l http://www.opsi.gov.uk/Acts/acts1996/ukpga_19960031_en_1 ]
• Sex Discrimination Act [http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts1975/pdf/ukpga_19750065_en.pdf ]
• Privacy, e.g.
• Data Protection Act [http://www.opsi.gov.uk/Acts/Acts1998/ukpga_19980029_en_1 ]
• Human Rights Act [http://www.opsi.gov.uk/ACTS/acts1998/ukpga_19980042_en_1 ]
• Regulatory Obligation.

Types of data archiving

Online archiving

Online archiving is where the system is physically attached to an organisations' network all the time. The main benefit of an online system is that it allows an organisation to quickly and easily access archived materials. It also has the additional benefit of allowing you to set up a fully automated archiving process. 

Offline archiving

Traditionally most archiving was carried out offline. An IT manager would download archived information from a computer network and then physically move that information to a separate system for retention.

The drawback of this system is that it needs a person to spend a lot of time and effort to archive everything correctly, and if you need to access archived data you might need to repeat the whole process in reverse. It is also more prone to human errors, increasing the risk of you loosing important data.

What can I expect to gain by implementing a data archiving
system?

Implementing a data archiving system can increase the efficiency of your organisation by allowing your computer systems to be freed from unnecessary data that might slow them down, while still leaving critical information easily accessible. Efficiency can also be increased by your personnel accessing previous work, helping them to avoid duplication of work that has been already been carried out.

Additionally, Intellectual Property (IP) (i.e. something that is created by the mind so isn't tangible) often has a commercial value and as a result of using a data archiving system you could potentially sell this as a product might be sold. 

Benefits of data archiving

Your business can gain a number of benefits by implementing a data archiving system, but exactly what these benefits will be will depend on your requirements, your situation and what type of organisation you work for.

Here are some examples of the benefits of data archiving:

• An efficient data archiving process can be far more cost effective than using the traditional method of simply adding more storage (disks) and servers.

• Data archiving packages help you to ensure that your organisation complies with relevant legislation and compliance issues. Many organisations such as banks, legal and medical practices have to comply with strict codes of conduct or face being fined. Implementing a data archiving system minimises the risk of your organisation being in breach of key codes of practice and other legislation.

• You can use data archives to retrieve historic information if you suspect a misdemeanour or that criminal activity has occurred within your organisation. This has become particularly important over recent years due to many incidents of crime, such as organised criminals using companies' computer resources and even issues around terrorist activities.

• Data archiving can help you save on storage. One of the objectives of a data archiving system is that it can help your company to maximise your technology assets, so rather than having to invest heavily in new equipment, a data archive can offer you a far more cost effective method of storing information.

• Increase your network and application performance. If you stored your data and files on a separate system, the performance of your network server would be greatly enhanced, simply because it frees up space on your hard drives.

• Data archiving systems can compress the stored information thereby reducing your storage requirements. 

• Data or content archiving systems can also automatically ensure that documents or records that you hold are not duplicated. The replication of the same information can be a massive overhead on your resources.

• If a policy can be agreed in order to identify what records should be kept and what can be discarded, the returns on investment can be very positive. This is because failure to retain certain records can lead to potential litigation and massive fines being incurred from non compliance. Also if you ever lost vital information that could not be retrieved, this would be a catastrophe. Could you imagine how damaging it would be if your company lost all of its customer records, such as company names, contacts etc and there were no copies available?

• Organisations are required to keep records of certain types of information, such as financial records and similar information for a specific time period to comply with legislation.

• Data archiving would allow your business to maximise the value of your Intellectual Property (IP) because you could potentially sell the information that is unique and of benefit to other companies (conditional that it is not undermining the organisations competitiveness and complies with legislation and Data Protection laws).

• It would allow your staff to find past information that they may require. For example you maybe working on a project that is similar to a previous project. By retrieving your previous project information you would reduce the need to duplicate work already carried out.

Potential pitfalls

• A potential issue with archiving is the need to try and identify what you should archive. It can take time to identify what information you need to retain and what can be destroyed when no longer required.

• Archiving is a complex issue. Various departments within your organisation need to be aware of the value of information.

• By not fully understanding the processes and procedures that your business needs to adhere to when data archiving.

• Not actively working with all the relevant departments in your organisation in order to fully understand what their requirements are and what information should be saved.

• Not implementing a data retention policy.

• Focussing too much on the technical aspect. Archiving systems should be seen as part of your business strategy and the processes you put in place should reflect this. It is key is to implement a robust data retention strategy in line with all of your departments' needs.

Six steps to successfully buying a data archiving system

Step one

Identify the needs of your organisation and your users.

• Business planning. You will need to fully understand your archiving requirements across the company. 

• Are you fully conversant with the issues that effect your organisation from a code of practice perspective?
• Are you completely in agreement about what needs to be archived and for how long?

• Are there any requirements that a particular group or department may need? Don't take anything for granted.

• You need to be completely clear that data archiving will benefit your organisation and you need to be especially aware of whether you are regulated in any way by legislation or codes of practice.

• Your potential supplier should help you analyse your storage requirements depending on usage and the type information stored.

Step two

Identify your needs for a new data or content archiving system.

• What equipment will I require? 
• How much will it cost?
• How much will it cost to maintain and support?
• Consider future options – you may be looking to open another office or expand your current operation. As a result you will need to ensure that whatever you purchase now will meet your future requirements.

Step three

Identify the right supplier.

• Use the search box on the right hand side of this page.
• Look through magazine and online reviews.
• Talk to other companies who have recently installed a data archiving solution in the same sector as you.
• Use forums, networks and personal contacts to obtain recommendations.

Ask questions such as:

• Who has the experience of working with a company the same size and profile as yours?
• Are any of those suppliers local to where you are located?
• How many similar installations have they made?
• Ask for references – ensure that the company is capable and reliable.
• Talk to a couple of their customers in order to see what benefits have been gained and what pains those customers went through when setting up and installing the system.
• Obtain a credit check through ICC Credit directly from your chosen supplier's listing in Conjungo to ensure that they are financially stable.

Step four

Request a detailed proposal from three or four of your preferred suppliers.

• Set a deadline for when you need the proposal back.
• Give out details in advance as necessary to ensure that the suppliers you have selected can give you the best proposal.
• Go and meet them in person – get a good feel for whether you will be able to work with them.

Step five

Select a supplier.

• Who best demonstrates that they understand your business and your requirements?
• Is the solution flexible and scaleable and therefore able to meet future demand? You don't want to find out later that by investing a little more money now you could have saved money in the long term.
• Is it cost effective? Have they shown how and where you will save money?
• Does it clearly demonstrate the functional benefits – rather than just listing particular features? Does the proposal clearly show what the benefits are? There is no point on spending money for a system full of features that are of no benefit or that you will never use!
• How will your potential supplier support and maintain your system afterwards?
• How much will support and maintenance cost?
• Have you spoken to a couple of your preferred suppliers' customers?
• Agree on financial terms – you may be required to pay a deposit but do not pay the whole amount in advance of delivery.

Step six

Implementation, testing and go live

• Install the new system. Only when you are entirely satisfied should you pay any balance outstanding on the invoice. This way, if there are any problems, your supplier will sort them out as a matter of urgency!
• Don't forget to account for user training!

Points to remember when installing a data archiving system

It is unlikely that you will install a data archiving system yourself but by knowing the following steps you will be aware of what the process is; helping you to achieve a fully functioning system.

• You will need to structure and implement a data retention policy. This must be constructed with the input of legal, HR (Human Resources) and IT departments. If your organisation does not have this infrastructure, then you should take specialist advice. This should be supported by an Acceptable Use Policy. (link to glossary on Go Understand Content Filtering)

• Identify what data can be moved to an archive and what data can be purged or deleted. 

• Work with your organisations' various departments in order to agree on an archiving policy. Don't assume that a single policy will be fine for all departments the needs of your HR, Finance, IT and Legal departments are likely to be different.

• Planning and design. You will need to agree on the classification of the information that is required to be archived and what the process is in order to achieve this.

• Store information according to date and type and agree who can access it.

• Allow your users to be able to access the archived information (unless it is confidential) in order that they can maximise the organisation's knowledge base and ensure that important information can be easily accessed.

• Agree who should manage this system. There needs to be someone who has the expertise to understand what information is important or not.

• Data archiving should be seen as an ongoing process and therefore you should ensure that procedures are in place to archive information regularly rather than on an ad hoc basis.

Conclusion

Data archiving used to be used within larger organisations rather than by small companies. This is no longer the case.

Whilst small companies might not be required to adhere to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act [link to: http://www.sarbanes-oxley.com/], the law extends to all individuals and organisations. However, data archiving systems are not just used for compliance reasons, but also (if implemented properly) to increase efficiency and potentially lower the cost of IT, because information that doesn't need to be stored won't be. As a result, you won't require further expensive servers in order to increase the performance of your network and to meet your storage demands.

Data Archive - FAQ's

What is a data archiving system?

Data archiving, or content archiving as it is often referred to, is a computerised system that enables an organisation to retain critical information including documents, databases, financial data and any other information that may be required for future use or inspection.

Why do I need it?

Certain types of organisations have to comply with legislation and codes of practice and keep a record of certain information for a number of years.  Furthermore, it can free up space on your existing computer network, meaning that you may not need to purchase further costly servers. 

What procedures should I put in place?

You will need to ensure that a data retention policy is in place. This would need to be drafted by HR, IT and legal departments or by a specialist organisation.

How will I know what to archive?

Every department will place a 'value' on their information, i.e. what should be stored. What is important to one person may not be to someone else. As a result, you must involve all departments within a company and agree on what should be retained.
 
Who should have access to the information that has been archived?

This will depend on the information and what has been decided within the company. User rights will allow certain information to be accessed by particular users.
 
How do I find the right vendor or reseller?

Conjungo [link] is a great starting point because it will let you search for a supplier according to your location, company type, size and whether they have the right accreditations. Furthermore, Conjungo is completely unbiased, lists most of the major vendors' resellers and it is free to use.

Is it something that I can install myself?

It can get quite technical so you may wish to take advice. It may be more economical in the long term to make sure that it is set up correctly by using a supplier than waste much of your valuable time trying to do so. It is important to get the system set up correctly, right from the beginning.

Is a data archive easy to use?

It should be! Depending on the system, users should be able to access the information easily.

Does data archiving mean that I have to comply with the Data Protection Act?

You need to take particular care with certain records, for example, employee details should be kept secure (with HR) in order not to contravene the Data Protection Act. [http://www.opsi.gov.uk/Acts/Acts1998/ukpga_19980029_en_1]

How will I know if my organisation is regulated in some way?

You can either ask your lawyer, accountant or a trade body that deals with your type of company.

Do the regulations and codes of practice apply to small companies?

Small organisations need to be aware of all of the issues and codes of practice that might have an impact on their company. The law applies to all organisations regardless of size.