Amber Hickman |
Data is one of the most valuable assets for an organisation, and leveraging data can provide a competitive advantage, set you up for using artificial intelligence and future needs including compliance, as well as a range of benefits including customer retention and streamlined services.
There are several factors involved in the data governance process, and according to IDC’s 2023 Cloud Ops survey, 44 per cent of organisations say that data availability is the key ingredient. However, some organisations are still struggling, as the same survey also revealed that less than 13 per cent of organisations consider their governance and automation capabilities to be excellent.
Mike Quinn, CEO of Preservica, believes that one of the factors hindering these organisations is the amount of data they have to deal with. “According to Microsoft, over two billion documents and emails are added to Microsoft 365 every day and about a third of those require retention for over seven years,” explains Quinn. “Simply put, that’s a lot of data.”
Moreover, IDC’s survey also found that 52 per cent of business and IT leaders worry about data loss and inaccessibility. “A lot of organisations retain important long-term and legacy data and content in SharePoint,” says Quinn. “However this can expose the business to data loss risks from poor application of retention policies, a lack of automation, obsolete data and file formats and accidental or intentional deletion. Any loss of data can be damaging from a governance perspective. It can lead to costly fines, legal settlements and reputation damage.”
So, how can chief information officers and chief data officers improve long-term data preservation and avoid data loss and inaccessibility? According to Quinn: “Traditional IT archiving practices must improve. Organisations often rely on separate, IT-administered archiving software, which usually requires manual processes and includes limited user search capabilities.
“Microsoft 365 backup and archiving solutions provide a starting point for short and medium-term data retention and recovery. However, companies that must retain data for long periods of time should consider additional complementary archiving solutions.”
“The right tools and strategy can help turn governance from a defence mechanism into a competitive advantage,” says Quinn
One such solution is Preservica’s Preserve365, which was launched in collaboration with Microsoft and simplifies compliance by making long-term data archiving, preservation and retrieval part of the Microsoft 365 and Microsoft SharePoint experience.
“With this new, embedded approach, Microsoft 365 and SharePoint users can invest in a single, unified governance strategy across the records lifecycle,” explains Quinn. “Preserve365 eliminates the headaches of separate vendor-specific archiving and discovery tools and allows organisations to streamline their tech stack.”
Preserve365 is incorporated with Preservica’s Active Digital Preservation technology, which automatically maintains long-term records in trusted formats to enable reliable access and reduces the risk of data obsolescence.
“Governing and archiving long-term data in SharePoint should be easy and tech-enabled,” says Quinn. “Preserve365 is helping IT and governance leaders automate the governance process and lay the foundations for long-term digital preservation. The right tools and strategy can help turn governance from a defence mechanism into a competitive advantage.”
Learn more on the Preservica website.
This article was originally published in the Spring 2024 issue of Technology Record. To get future issues delivered directly to your inbox, sign up for a free subscription.