Data Protection Strategy
The first step to securing the availability and future of your organization is developing a solid Data Protection Strategy.
Protect your data. Protect your business.
When analyst firm Enterprise Strategy Group (ESG) asked IT decision-makers which areas they were experiencing a shortage of skills in, 23% responded with data protection, making it second overall on the list. At Performive, we have helped hundreds of clients across the globe plan for today and the future through Data Protection Strategy Consultations and Data Protection Services. The ideal data protection strategy considers future business growth, modernization plans, and data growth. With data constantly multiplying, a consultation with experts (certified in multiple enterprise-grade technologies) can find cost-effective options that give you choice – rather than pushing a single, pre-packaged solution.
By the way, Cybersecurity headed the shortage of skills list at 44% (Performive can also help with your security)
Start building your data protection strategy today
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Preparing for a Data Protection Strategy
At Performive, we help clients at all stages of their Data Protection Strategy. Our team can coach you through the preparation steps of a documented data protection plan and policies. Or you can do the homework on your own. To get started, we recommend preparing for a Data Protection Strategy by taking the following three steps:
1. Data Audit
To audit your data, document all the information that is stored or processed by your organization. This first step is often the most intensive as data can reside on-prem, in private clouds, in public clouds, in applications, or in SaaS platforms. Once you have tracked down all your data sets, we recommend notating the following attributes about each data set:
How is it collected?
Where is it stored? Is it encrypted?
What is the storage type, file type, and size of the data?
What applications, workloads, SaaS, or employees have access to the data? How is access given and revoked?
How is the data being used?
What environmental specifications does the data reside in?
- Cloud type or on-prem?
- What is the compute power?
- Does it run on Hyper-V or VMware?
- What versions of technology is the data using/consuming?
2. Risk Analysis
There are two main considerations when analyzing the risk of your organization’s data sets and mapping the data routes.
Assessing the Criticality of a Data Set
After completing the data audit, review the characteristics of each data set to determine its criticality in running operations, meeting customer expectations, or (as we review below) requirements for compliance. We suggest using a 1 to 5 rating system with 1 being the most critical.
Pathing the Data’s Journey
Your organization’s data map may be similar to a spiderweb. Multicloud environments, multiple applications, and central databases may connect together in many different routes. Noting the routes critical data sets take to provide productivity for your organization is an important step in the future protection strategy of the data.
3. Compliance Regulations and Policy Adherence
Now that you know what data exists in your organization, the value of each data set, and have mapped the data routes, the last step to preparing for a data protection strategy consultation is compliance regulations. Your industry, area of business, or other entity may have regulations or policies that you are subject to. We have helped hundreds of clients build their IT strategies around compliance adherence and it is important to bring these regulations as a requirement in the first stages of your planning.
Are you ready to consult with Performive on your Data Protection Strategy?
Fill out the form below to get started with a consultation. If you are still exploring, learn more about the specific services and technologies deployed by Performive to protect over 3000 clients.