Did you know that about 60 percent of corporate data is out of your IT department's control? "Distributed data" lives at the edge of the network on remote servers and PCs - typically outside the layers of traditional security afforded to a data center. The challenge with distributed data is that it's easy to ignore up until a point of failure. Distributed data is vulnerable to a host of threats including inconsistent backup practices, hardware theft and loss, viruses and human error. Whenever a company's important or sensitive data is lost (or worse, exposed) the company can face serious consequences including loss of business, legal liability, and negative publicity.
So how does an organization best protect and manage its growing amounts of data in an increasingly distributed environment? Central IT control and automation are your keys to taming the distributed data beast, so begin with these three critical steps:
1. Secure PC/laptop data with a centrally-m anaged online backup solution
Traditional save-to-server practices are expensive, ineffective and burdensome for end users. Distributed data protection [http://www.ironmountain.com/dataprotection/pc/connected.asp] must be easy to deploy and manage, be seamless for end users and result in your organization saving money.
Thus, organizations should utilize automated online backup solutions that take the onus off the employee and give control back to the IT administrator. Choose licensed software or a managed service that gives employees access to their laptop/PC data at any time through a secure Internet connection, and the ability to retrieve their data even when the data becomes lost, damaged or corrupted. Recovery becomes a self-service activity, reducing the requirements for IT support - but at the same time ensuring the company always has control over its data. The automated functionality minimizes or outright eliminates the predominance of user compliance issues.
2. Protect PC/laptop data from falling into the wron g hands
Encrypting sensitive data on laptops is a good first step, but is often burdensome to implement and requires end-users to comply with good-intentioned policies. Consider more active technologies that ensure complete data security on PCs and laptops by monitoring for abnormal or threatening behavior and acting on those behaviors to destroy sensitive data before unauthorized parties have the opportunity to access it. This type of solution should be transparent to the end user and centrally implemented and managed by your IT organization.
3. Secure data on distributed servers with continuous online backup
Vast quantities of data now reside in remote offices and branch locations, making backup of distributed data an important but difficult task for IT groups. Although tape backup methods are still relevant in many instances, they are not always ideally suited to this challenge. Once-a-day backups can leave you vulnerable to data losses, and the lack of adequate IT staff can result in inconsistent procedures and failed backups. Automatic, online backup helps to mitigate or eliminate these problems because it alleviates the need for onsite backup support and gives central IT staff control and ease-of-mind.
In today's mobile and dynamic work environment, it is crucial for employees to have regular, reliable, and remote access to stored data. Equally paramount is an organization's ability to protect its data whether it resides on the central server or on employee laptops and remote servers. Various technology solutions exist, and the organizations that utilize them will better safeguard not only their data, but also their enterprise.
Anne Bala offers expert advice and opinion on managing online backup solutions for Iron Mountain's clients.
In addition to offering online backup solutions, Iron Mountain also provides many other business services including data protection, records management, regulatory compliance secure shredding and expertise in helping businesses address complex information challenges. For more information on all Iron Mountain's services visit [http://www.imknowledgecenter.com]
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