Compliance Increases Data Retention Periods
Compliance has fueled the broader concept of ILM (Information Lifecycle Management) in recent years. Compliant records data is presently estimated to grow over 60% per year generating in excess of 1.6 PB of new storage capacity requirements in 2006. This now represents the single fastest growing application segment of the storage industry.
In parallel, the value of that digital data is growing every day. What we don't understand about our data is becoming a growing concern of the IT industry. What happens to data as it ages? Does usage decline as data ages? Does the value of data increase or decrease as it ages? Why are we keeping more data longer than ever before? What conditions indicate when data should be retired? Do storage management requirements change as data goes through its lifecycle? If data is the most valuable asset of so many businesses, why do we know so little about it? These questions represent looming challenges for IT personnel and the storage industry.
Some industries are more regulated than others. HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996) specifies retention requirements for medical images and records. Medical data used to be retained for one year, and then three years, then seven years. Now some health care providers plan to retain digital records for the patients' lifetime plus seven years. For some patients, this represents a retention period over 100 years!
The scope of e-mail is exploding and it is estimated that the number of e-mails sent each day worldwide will exceed 36 billion in 2006. Unfortunately at least 75-80% of e-mail traffic is useless and unwanted spam clogging network bandwidth and wasting computer storage. Multiple regulations now effect e-mail retention periods. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires every public company to save every record related to the audit process including e-mails for 7 years. This reflects an important change in the role of e-mail. E-mail has evolved to become a de-facto document and records repository, rather than just a communication system as it was intended to be. Managing e-mail as a records repository or database has become a critical storage management and ILM discipline.
The IT and data storage industry sits in the middle of the exploding compliance challenge. More regulations mean that more data must be stored, managed and protected. Proper alignment of IT with compliance laws can go a long way to satisfy internal audit and regulatory requirements facilitating effective IT governance. Compliance appears to be a mandate for most companies today as the growing number of laws isn't leaving much untouched. Nonetheless, the expense of compliance is straining many businesses as it can account for as much as 5 percent of a typical IT budget. It is estimated that companies will have spent as much as $15.5 billion in 2005 on compliance activities. In times where IT budgets are strained, many companies are concerned that the benefits outweigh the costs.
Source: Horison Information Strategies: Storage Navigator
© 2005 Horison
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