Are you looking forward to backup files and software to a device or to the cloud that will automatically protect and preserve your organization? When data storage comes in concern, there is no solution that fits all need. Before deciding on where to store structured and unstructured data, companies are required to understand the type, the amount of data, as well as motivation behind information storage. So how to formulate a sound data management strategy? Here are some of the most common suggestions regarding the steps you need to take while choosing the right data storage solutions:
Know the Data: All data is not created equal and adequate understanding of the business value of this data is critical to define the storage strategies. It is better to ask the following questions while formulating a data storage management policy:
• How fast the data will be required after it is lost
• How fast can be the need to access this data
• How long the data is to be retained
• How secure data needs to be
• What are the regulatory needs that must be adhered to?
Understand the Compliance Requirement: In case you are a traded company or operating within a regulated industry like healthcare or financial services, the bar is set high for security and compliance. If you are outsourcing management and data storage, ensure that the services provider come with the credentials essential to provide a compliant and secure environment. Remember that failure to operate in compliance can lead to penalties later.
Have Disaster Recovery Plans in Place: Things here are chiefly about recovery. All the backups will never be able to save you in case you are unable to recover data. Regardless of the method of backup used, make sure to test them. Remember that you need to do this regularly and not simply once in a year or a month. Opt for random recoveries every week and take up disaster recovery tests and audit the pools periodically for data recovery.
Check out if you can Find Data after Storage: Ability to search electronically stored data and provide accurate results is critical to availing the most out of data in urgent situations when data is required for litigation. If you cannot find right data when you need it the most, there is no point to archive the data.
Ensure Security of Data: While managing data within the IT environment, security needs to be prioritized. Security comes two fold here. It needs to be secure both physically as well as virtually. Data needs to be encrypted here so that it cannot be used or read by unscrupulous third parties even if it is hacked or falls out of possession.
Avoid Redundant Data Storage: Most companies do not have a storage plan. They capture as well as store only redundant data. This was not much of a trouble when the disks were expensive since companies spent time on careful planning on the things to store. With things priced significantly more reasonably, the tendency now is to store everything. Before storing data, analyze it properly and pick up the most reliable source.
Checking out on these aspects will help to opt for commendable tivoli storage management software befitting your need.
Author Bio: Simon Hopes is a prolific writer. He has framed write ups on varying topics and has several write ups on data management tools. He has several articles and blogs on the benefits of IBM storage manager download.
