You may be thinking, “So why should I worry about our data storage?” or “What’s the big deal in keeping everything?” While it is true that even offsite data storage costs have gone down by about 25% this year, the simple fact is that keeping your data forever can create long-term management challenges and lead to headaches when something needs to be found. Most often companies that save everything don’t do so because they think it’s the best way, but because they aren’t sure what needs to be saved or deleted.

Certainly every organization needs to save information for its own purposes, such as transactions, accounting records, analytical data, and so on. Not only that, but regulations such as the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) require enterprises to save certain kinds of content for a prescribed period. You may not be hit by these acts, but rest assured more regulations are in the works.

Data retention is a balancing act. Keep too much and not only will the cost of eDiscovery in a law suit (even a frivolous one) be astronomical, but you also increase the risk of damaging findings being discovered. On the other hand, delete data without a specific and rigorously enforced retention policy and you’re not likely to receive the benefit of the doubt with the courts as to why requested information is not available.

So what should you be doing? To address the problem, here are 4 data retention strategies you must consider:

1.) Start with the storage analysis, not the storage technology or procedures.
Know what data has to be kept and for how long. Many times requirements are dictated by industry or legal requirements. There are software tools to help you in analyzing what information is stored on your servers and how it’s used.

2.) Segment user populations.
Use categories such as executives, back-office employees, sales, and people who deal with the company’s intellectual property and treat their data differently. You certainly don’t need to keep back office transactional data as long as executive strategic communications.
3.) Be precise and consistent with data retention policies.
Carefully crafted and enforced policies will more often than not be deemed legally defensible causing less legal exposure and dramatically lowering the cost of eDiscovery.
4.) Don’t confuse back-up with archiving.
Since backup systems don’t generally have the granular control needed to save some types of information for a short time and others for longer, using them as archival systems can be costly and risky. For example, if a certain business record needs to be saved for seven years, the wrong place to save it is on a backup tape with 65,000 other files.

Avoid the expense and hassle of having too much data by having and enforcing strong policies and using proper tools to maintain independent data archives. We can assist you in identifying best practices and cost effective software tools for your business.

Visit BSSI’s Computer Support website.

An easy and often overlooked way to collect customer feedback is through a Digital Suggestion Box (DSB). A DSB allows customers to comment and rate products or suggestions, giving you powerful insights on what they want to buy and how to secure their loyalty. Not only do DSBs allow customers to voice their ideas and opinions, they also allow other customers to vote on them. Imagine a kind of “American Idol” for business ideas where a customer can offer an idea and everyone else gets to vote it up or down. The key benefits of a Digital Suggestion Box are:

• Increased customer loyalty.
  Allowing your customers to provide feedback will make them feel valued and important, creating trust and a stronger bond.
• Insights into what customers will buy.
  Your customers know your services and products best and will often provide end-user feedback you could never discover sitting around a boardroom table.
• Increased brand loyalty.
  Customers who provide feedback that is acted on will feel more “invested” and will often become your best sales people.
• High quality feedback in real time.
  DSBs provide feedback instantly; forget spending weeks or months doing surveys, phone calls and offline communications!

There are multiple Digital Suggestion Box services offered by firms like USERVOICE, IDEASCALE, and SALESFORCE with costs ranging from free to $600 per month for large multi-forum set-ups.

Vist BSSI’s Computer Support website.