Why is a Data Archiving Plan Important?
A data archiving plan is an essential part of any IT organization, if not, all organizations. Developing a data archive plan is very important for organizations having a great variety of electronic and non-electronic content. Before we delve deeper into the data archiving plan and its benefits, let’s first take a close look at what data archiving is: "Data archiving is a single or a collection of historical records specifically selected for long-term retention and future reference." The goal here is to reduce costs on warm storage while retaining old data needed for future reference, analysis, and information needed for regulatory compliance. In other words, archiving data is the practice of shifting infrequently accessed data to low-cost storage repositories.
Although a data protection and management plan address the protection, security, and access of data, it also provides storage capabilities that can be used over extended time frames, when coupled with an archiving plan. Hence, the relevance of an archiving plan. This blog provides you with the benefits of data archiving. In addition, a brief analysis of a four-step process to go through when preparing a data archive plan is explained.??
Reasons for preserving data include the following:
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Data archive plan provides specific rules, standards, and guidelines for the following:
Steps to go through when developing a data archive plan
When preparing a data archive plan, a four-step process is necessary: The first step here is to use your data backup and data management plans as starting points. This step is followed by the analysis of the types of data and information to place into long-term storage. Establishing metrics for retention, access, and other activities is considered here as the third step of the process when developing a data archive plan. The fourth and final step here is to consult with subject-matter experts and management in your organization. The main aim of this last step is to assure that you have identified the necessary data and met archiving requirements.
Depending on your data retention policy, you might not only need to retain data for several years, but also protect and retain additional non-electronic information for shorter periods of time. Note that the storage options for such archives should carefully be considered.
Moreover, it is possible to scan and digitize certain items for storage. However, your organization might also need to preserve original documents for legal or regulatory purposes. Other items, such as paintings and other artwork, cannot be stored digitally and could also have strict environmental requirements for long-term archiving. Note that the creation and preservation of metadata is also a key aspect of data archiving and should be taken into consideration when developing a data archive plan.