Every company should have a storage management plan. As your business prospers, new customers are added, old customers return, new applications are purchased, networks grow – the need for a storage management plan becomes essential. Adding new storage is not a simple task. New data and new applications need to be integrated with old ones. Merging data may not be practical. The best course of action is to plan ahead, beginning with considering using a data center and cloud services for your storage needs.
Companies should consider using outside storage vendors and data centers that keep current with the latest technologies and are trained to ask the right planning questions. Cloud services can be scaled to meet a company’s storage needs.
Storage management considerations
There are many essential components to a thorough storage management plan. Some of the key factors are:
- Disaster recovery. Storage management is essential when catastrophe strikes. Data and applications that are essential to business operations should be stored so they can be accessed quickly if internal failures or security breaches happen. Storage should be prioritized according to the business needs of the company. Storage should also be ordered based on which applications are needed most to get the IT system running again.
- Compatibility issues. The type of data also needs to be reviewed so that the retrieved data can be loaded and reused.
- Business considerations. If companies merge, then the data from each business needs to mix with the new business or office. Companies with multiple offices have different storage considerations than companies with just one location.
- Security. Understand which data cannot be breached. All forms of intellectual property should be reviewed and prioritized. Important data may be encrypted.
- Storage devices. The various types of storage solutions need to be considered – hard disk drives, solid-state devices, storing data in the cloud, etc. If multiple systems are being used, they need to mesh properly.
- Compliance issues. Consider what government regulations, if any, govern the data. Some data absolutely cannot be shared, such as electronic health care records; it must be secure.
- Think about the sources of all your data. Not every piece of data comes from a database. Some data can come from email servers, network servers, or other places.
- Understand who has authority to access the data. This is especially important to know when a crisis occurs.
- Know how long the data has to be kept. Some data may need to be kept for decades.
- Differentiate types of data. Customer data is different than vendor data. Both are different than employee data.
- Understand how IT is used in your business. Today, many businesses have employees who work through mobile technology, in-office and home desktops, virtual platforms, the Internet, enterprise IT systems, and in other ways.
- Know the costs. Different storage solutions have different upfront costs. They also have different installation, maintenance, and support costs.
- Do not store duplicate data. Data storage costs money. Data should be reviewed so that duplicate date is not generating unnecessary costs.
- Storage techniques. The ways in which data can be stored can vary. Some techniques require a lot less space and are cheaper than others.
- Test the storage. Run tests to determine how well the storage system is working before disasters strikes.
Get help now for your storage management needs
The difference between the right storage management plan and the wrong one is not just a matter of cost. The right plan prepares for company growth, changing industry demands, or disaster events. The wrong plan can mean lost customers, stolen data, or—worst of all—that the company ceases functioning. To prepare the proper plan and to fully address your company’s storage needs – please call Volico at 888-865-4261. Our knowledgeable storage management representatives are ready to help.
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