All you need to know about data archiving

The digital domain has given a huge boost to the economy by enabling trading through the internet. All the businesses have their online presence to capture the 3.4 billion-plus customer base. The data generated online is also growing exponentially with the increase in online transactions. It is becoming more difficult for companies to protect and manage their data. Thus, there is a need for a cost-effective data archiving service. Having a simplified archiving service that meets the industry standards will help the businesses grow. 

There are certain important aspects that you must keep in mind while selecting a data archival service. The success of your business’s data archiving strategy depends a lot on the archival service that you are choosing. Let’s throw some light on those aspects:

Business requirements

Identify the data types that your business needs to archive. Also, define the retention period of these data types. For example, financial transactions should be archived forever as per regulatory guidelines. Some of the business requirements that must be considered are:

1. How often will you access your data?
2. How long will the data be stored?
3. Who should have access to the archived data both in and outside the business?
4. Archival of which data files fall under legal and compliance regulatory requirements.
5. How is the data created and distributed by your business?

Having answers to these questions will help you in having a healthy discussion with archival services.

Regulatory obligations

Legal and regulatory obligations set specific guidelines related to data retention. Your business will have to follow these rules and regulations to avoid and fines. Check with your archival service if their tool follows the regulatory guidelines. Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) have laid regulations for the financial industry. Thus, your archival service should meet all the data retention policies.

Automated archiving

The archiving process should happen periodically at the backend. Your business shouldn’t have to worry about initiating the archival every time. Moreover, you should also be able to set the archival frequency as per your needs. Stillio is one of the best archiving tools available in the market that automates this job for your business. You can reach out to the team at Stillio to understand more about their tool’s features.

Data accessibility

The archived data must be searchable, and retrievable when needed. If the archival is done properly then you would be able to enjoy features like easy access, automated search, and preventing data deduplication. You can also ask for restricted access to your archived data. So only employees with certain clearances will have access to the archived information.

Document the policy

Once you have finalized all the details of your business’s archival strategy, document the details in the policy. Include specifics about data categories and retention periods also. This policy will act as a legal record about the archival strategy that you are implementing. Make changes to the policy and document them as and when your business requirements change.