As data continues to grow and more and more regulations come in to place regarding data retention, businesses have been inclined to store all of their data, and with the fines in place should you be in a position of non-compliance, who can really blame them.
It has become safer to keep everything rather than run the risk of being caught out. Reacting like this does ensure that your business is compliant, however you are paying a penalty by storing and managing old, duplicated and redundant data.
Have you already made the move to a SAN environment? What was the cost to implement this technology? How much will it cost to upgrade your capacity should your data outgrow the storage you have provisioned? How do you know, without undertaking a data audit, that the data you are storing on your SAN platform even belongs there?
By undertaking a data audit you are able to identify old data that can be archived to a cheaper storage platform, or duplicate data that can simply be deleted or even files that may be prohibited in your environment. You will be able to identify what your true rate of data growth is, this is imperative when planning for future upgrades or working out which new projects you may be able to host on your SAN.
What about if you operate in a DAS environment?
The problem is compounded even more in a DAS environment where upgrading capacity can be a much bigger problem. Why spend any more money provisioning bigger disks (and scheduling in costly down time) or buying larger capacity servers when by undertaking a data audit you would be able to identify what data is actually worth keeping. By identifying the data you can archive or even delete you will be able to deliver longer life cycle from your DAS environment ensuring that only the data that is needed is stored.
Skye has worked with a number of clients to help them not only audit their data, but also work with them to then implement the polices and procedures around data deletion and archiving that are needed to ensure that they are getting the best value from the environment.
If you are reaching capacity, or feel that you are storing unnecessary data just to ensure compliance, you could benefit from auditing your data.
If you are interested in learning more about data auditing or would like to discuss with one of our consultants how our data auditing services could be of benefit to your organisation, please do not hesitate to contact us on 01732 525889.