In a data-driven world, information is an organisation’s most important asset. Companies are collecting more data than ever before, which is why protecting this information is critical.
While enterprise data can provide businesses with much-needed insights required for planning and sustainability; new, smarter solutions are required to meet mounting data management requirements.
Of course, not all data is created equally. While structured data is more visible (and therefore easier to manage and protect), unstructured data can present a challenge. According to Gartner, leveraging unstructured data is a huge untapped resource that has the potential to create a competitive advantage for companies that can figure out how to use it.
When it comes to file analysis, encryption and management of unstructured data, however, “understanding what unstructured data exists, both with respect to content and volumes, and where it is located, is important,” says Ken Wessels, Meniko Records Management’s operations director. “Business must be able to analyse, secure and manage across all storage platforms to ensure ‘silos’ are not managed independently.” Over and above finding all unstructured data across all repositories, it’s important to understand unstructured data within context. According to Wessels, the encryption of files should not be related to a platform but rather on the data itself in order to protect personal information, irrespective of whether it is at rest or in transit, in the cloud or on-premises, or solution-based.