- 21 | 10 | 2024
By Kerry Blinston, Group Director of Strategy Delivery Operations
A well-structured information management strategy isn’t just about helping clients store data; it’s also about guiding them on what they need to keep and, more importantly, what they can let go of.
But how do we help clients shed the security blanket of excess data, and why should they?
We’ve moved well beyond the days of passwords scribbled on post-it notes stuck to monitors. Yet, no matter how advanced your security systems are, the moment information is stored – whether physically or digitally – it becomes vulnerable.
The most secure data? The data you no longer have. Unnecessary data that is securely and safely destroyed – whether shredded physically or deleted digitally – can’t be hacked, breached, or accidentally exposed. Encouraging clients to remove redundant information is one of the best ways to enhance their security.
We all understand the need to keep certain data for regulatory, legal or corporate compliance, but let’s be honest – most organisations are holding onto vast amounts of redundant information. It’s like keeping old clothes you still love but just never wear.
Often, clients store many versions of the same information in multiple formats, with various departments requesting the same data over and over again.
When it comes to data, more isn’t always better. Keeping excess information risks making finding the critical data you do need much harder. Unless carefully and consistently gathered meta-data exists, it’s like searching for a needle in a haystack – and worse, some of that hay is entirely irrelevant.
Moreover, when data is stored in unstructured formats, without meta-data, it creates an ocean of information that serves little purpose, increasing the cost of storage, decreasing efficiency and adding no value. Over-retention not only wastes physical or digital storage space, with the associated negative environmental impacts but can also lead to hidden pockets of critical or valuable data, which complicates retrieval during events such as legal discovery and disclosure.
The solution is clear: helping clients simplify and streamline their data management through cataloguing to build meta-data, regular audits and encouraging the destruction of unnecessary data. By focusing on what’s truly essential and letting go of the rest, businesses can reduce risk, improve efficiency, and cut costs.
A proactive, secure approach to data management – scanning and digitising to improve accessibility, and applying appropriate retention rules – ensures that organisations won’t drown in excess information. A cluttered data environment serves no one and could potentially harm your business.
In essence, the value of a modern information strategy lies not just in what we help our clients store, but in what we help them safely dispose of.
