Looking at data governance is kind of like looking at a messy garage with boxes piled to the ceiling. When it comes to data, or garages, people tend to get into a hording mentality because they want to keep everything that’s out there. And as time goes on, the boxes begin to pile higher and higher, making everything even more unorganized than it already was. So when you’re told to clean things up and get rid of the clutter, it’s hard to know where to begin.
In yesterday’s online training, Do You Know Your Data, data experts discussed how to clean up your data and maintain an effective information governance strategy.
Our experts included:
– Stephen Watts: Federal Architect for Information Governance, Vertias
– Hudson Hollister: Founder and Executive Director, Data Transparency Coalition
“Each year it costs an organization 5 million dollars to store 1 petabyte of enterprise data,” said Watt. “So cutting useless data isn’t just about becoming more organized and improving governance, it’s about saving your company thousands or even millions of dollars per year.”
To help you clean out your data centers and achieve data governance, follow these three steps:
Step 1: Gain visibility. You need to find out what’s in your repositories of information. Begin by looking in your email systems, file systems, databases, and records management systems. Discover who is touching files, when they are being touched and where does this data actually reside. When you find out where your information is, you can determine what you need to keep and what you can get rid of.
Step 2: Take action. Once you gain visibility into the datasets that you already have, start taking action. Implement policies that align behaviors with your goals. You may have organization policies that require you to keep specific data or information for certain periods of time. These guidelines inform what information you need to keep and what is no longer useful. It also allows you to move data into locations where you can save them for the required amount of time.
Step 3: Assume control. Moving to the third and final step allows you to improve data management and risk practices. Having your data organized means agencies can now allow employees limited access to certain data. This reduces the risk of employees seeing information they shouldn’t and improving insider security threats.
Achieving these three steps to better governance saves you money, saves you time and reduces risk – a journey that can be achieved one step at a time. Learn more by viewing the training on-demand.
