3 Questions To Drive Better Data Governance

Any effective data governance plan must include data storage policies as a key piece of the data puzzle – and both structured and unstructured data play a role. Scott Stanton, Director of Product Management at Igneous, explains why data discoverability needs, data expiration policies and cloud storage priorities are 3 key areas to enterprises to consider as they flesh out their data governance plan for 2020 and beyond.

Data governance – or the process of managing data in enterprise systems – is the No. 1 concern in 2020 for chief audit executives (CAEs), according to Gartner’s annual Audit Plan Hot Spots ReportOpens a new window , rising from its place as the No. 2 concern in 2019. However, boards, audit committees and executives struggle to implement effective data best practices and face serious business risks if they don’t.

“Despite the strategic importance of data, organizations have been slow to adopt data governance frameworks, putting them at risk of large fines, of poor strategic decision-making and of misallocation of critical resources,” said Malcolm Murray, Vice President for the Gartner Audit practice. “Data managementOpens a new window failures have drawn regulator and public scrutiny, leading to increased regulatory burdens and pressure on organizations and their use of data.”

Security, data migration and data backupOpens a new window are among the issues that should be addressed, Gartner recommends in the recently released report. But more than half of organizations don’t have a data governance framework or budget, according to the study.

Even companies with data governance Opens a new window programs may struggle as they account for the complexities in today’s data landscape. The flood of unstructured data, including images, video and log files, is challenging companies that have traditionally focused data governance on structured data, like that stored in relational databases.

Let’s explore three data storage questions to ask that will help guide your organization toward an effective data governance program.

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How Important is Data Discoverability?

Privacy regulations, such as the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the California Consumer Privacy ActOpens a new window (CCPA), require that companies up their data privacyOpens a new window efforts. As more companies are turning to cloud and increasingly fragment where data lives, discoverability becomes more important.

To secure sensitive information to satisfy those regulations, organizations must know where it lives and who can access it, according to the Forbes article “Data Management and Governance: The Changing Data Landscape.”Opens a new window The value of data discoverability within your organization can shape best practices.

“As the demand to beef up data management and governance capabilities increases, we will see many data infrastructure and privacy teams accelerating their privacy compliance journeys by investing in data discovery and auditing solutions that will automatically determine the location of sensitive data across the enterprise, including in the cloud.”

What are Your Data Expiration Policies?

How long an organization retains data and when it expires that data is often influenced by legal and financial requirements, according to Igneous’ “5 Areas to Evaluate for NAS Backup to Cloud”Opens a new window blog post. These can range from government regulations like SEC Rule 17a-4 to service-level agreements (SLAs) with users. Balance that with the need to comply with the “right to be forgotten” requirements of GDPROpens a new window and CCPA – data retention and expiration policies become very challenging.

Organizations are understandably motivated to follow these regulations lest they face fines or lawsuits. But many cloud providers set mandatory minimums for data in archives, such as the six-month retention period set by AWS Glacier Deep Archive or Microsoft Azure Archive Blob Storage. Expiration policies should take into account potential penalties from deleting data before the minimum duration is met.

These policies should also include a plan for cleaning up expired data from archives. While some data will likely be deemed irrelevant and ready for permanent removal, other data may be reclaimed and re-archived. Grouping and compacting it before doing so can save money. Understanding when it is the right time to do that to minimize transaction costs is the storage sweet spot.

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Which Data Should You Store in Cloud?

When companies consider which data to move to cloud storageOpens a new window , most focus on archive data that needs to be stored for seven or more years. But with cloud prices getting ever cheaper, companies should mull whether the company’s backup data could be stored in the cloud as well.

“Native cloud storage solutions enable centralized data management and eliminate the need for pricey, on-premises facilities, infrastructure and staff,” according to the DataCenter Knowledge article “Seven Big Reasons to Move Backup to the Cloud.”Opens a new window Automatic tiering of data in the cloud substantially reduces overall costs by making warm data available for instant restores and automatically moving infrequently accessed data to less costly cold storage.”

Other benefits of moving backup data to cloud storage include adherence to compliance regulations, increased reliability and workflow silo elimination.

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Establish a Data Governance Plan for Success

Any effective data governanceOpens a new window plan must include data storage policies as a key piece of the data puzzle – and both structured and unstructured data play a role. Considering your data discoverability needs, expiration policies and cloud storage priorities can help your organization flesh out its data governance plan. Cheers to successful data governance!

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