CIOIN

In order to effectively manage information, organizations are gearing up to tackle the obstacles. Some of the many issues that need to be integrated and managed for effective information management involve a combination of the business requirements and complex organizational issues. The integral part of any company i.e. their employees, processes, IT infrastructure and inter functional departments each, needs to be addressed if information management projects are to succeed.

When we speak of archiving, we mean the automated capturing and indexing of information from messaging, file servers and collaborative systems into a compressed, searchable data file for possible use at a later time. Companies do this to reduce storage costs, but also to follow retention policies, to protect against litigation or to protect against possible deletion.  In this regard, archiving data upfront reduces the need to backup multiple copies and dramatically reduces the total footprint of the secondary data and therefore makes easier to identify information within the secondary data set in case of a audit or eDiscovery activity.

In an info centric management approach, organizations can search for such information quickly and efficiently. They have backed up data according to pre-determined policies, archived data for long term storage and eDiscovery purposes to help them find information later and deleted records after a predetermined timeframe to reduce the volume of information IT has to store, manage and discover. This not only prevents organizations from “protecting” the personal data of an employee, but helps them to manage important company information.

As data continues to expand over the next decade, eventually reaching a zettabyte of information, it will become increasingly important to have comprehensive information management plans in place that details retention policies. By determining now how to best protect, de-duplicate, delete and discover the right information using the right tools, IT managers will help their organizations save time and resources.

In establishing processes to manage information, the effective IT leaders will help control the ever-expanding amounts of information, help their organizations expand and protect the organization, not just the data, from outside forces.

Just as information growth is a reality and we cannot ignore it, the need of the hour is to manage it effectively leading to a direct impact on the costs. Deduplication of data or simply put, is the process of eliminating redundant data. Needless to say, in environments where storage needs continue to intensify and holding down costs remains a key issue, deduplication offers welcome relief for today’s IT organizations. So go ahead, delete confidently and discover efficiently!

The author is Vice President, Information Management Group, Symantec.