Much of the news related to information governance has related directly back to security and data breaches in recent years, and for good reason as a wealth of organizations have fallen victim to theft and exposure in that time frame. First and foremost, information protection needs to become a more common goal for a wider variety of industries in the coming years, otherwise the economic damages of identity theft and fraud will only continue to move on an upward track.
With this in mind, businesses should also remember that sound data management practices - even those that have little or nothing to do with raw protection against breaches - will generally yield positive results when it comes to the cyber security arena, as well as many more in general operational performances. Security is just one piece of a much bigger puzzle that includes matters such as compliance, governance, disaster recovery, analytics and much more.
When a business takes a proactive and comprehensive approach to data management, the chances of excelling in the market will be far higher, as information remains the lifeblood of any organization. Now that powerful analytics tools, as well as data center services that include managed cloud solutions, are readily available for corporate consumption, the opportunities to progress into the modern era of IT and information management are relatively boundless.
To ensure that the business is taken care of from a security and management perspective, leveraging solutions from a robust vendor, such as one that can offer everything from email encryption to data center protection, will generally work to the advantage of the adopting company. Before competitors begin to excel and leave a business in the dust, it is the responsibility of firms to take the initiative and get more advanced capabilities into play.
Going back to the basics
Chris Poelker, writing for Computerworld, recently explained what the four pillars of data management entail, affirming that a synergy between technologies and management frameworks are critical to get the job done. Remember, data center management is not only rooted in the equipment's prowess contained therein, but even more so contingent upon the ways in which employees are managing the information that is passing through and being stored in these environments.
According to the author, the first pillar is known as provisioning, which essentially covers all of the ways in which information is stored and accessed from a management perspective. Creating frameworks that maintain efficiency and consistency across a wide range of users and access to generation end points will help to ensure that the data management strategy is working to the benefit of the company, rather than creating excess complexity over time. He noted that this pillar should contain virtually everything that pertains to raw storage materials and utilities.
Next, Poelker stated that protection should be involved in the basic planning of data management procedures, working to integrate security-related tools such as encryption and verification directly into the strategy. This pillar has become one of the most important, as he added that it is also the area on which companies appear to be spending the largest sum of budget in the modern era.
Moving right along, the author went on to explain that replication represents the third pillar of data management, and that both IT functions and information need to be covered by these practices. Replication can help to ensure that IT service delivery and information governance work together in a holistic and consistent fashion, leading to more efficient and productive performances without putting any data at risk of loss.
Finally, Poelker stated that recovery is the fourth pillar of data management that companies need to keep an eye on, and this is a matter that also impacts the continuity of a given organization. By focusing on the creation and execution of strong data-related disaster recovery strategies, organizations will be safer when a major event strikes.
Seeking out assistance
Even when a company has a large IT department filled with skillful professionals, data management can still represent an area of strain and frustration for all involved. Configuration, integration, service delivery, information governance and several other tasks cannot and should not be solely placed as an IT department's responsibility, as this will be simultaneously ineffective and inefficient for a variety of reasons.
Instead, leveraging managed data center services can help companies to free up their IT departments for more strategic matters, all the while maintaining stronger performances due to a greater degree of support coming from the outside. Organizations might be surprised at just how financially and operationally advantageous this approach to data center management has become, especially when looking at the benefits related to fewer security issues and service disruptions that come with expert care.
David Bailey is Senior Vice President at Protected Trust.
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