By Jim Klossner, Senior Director, Product Management and Software Development
This is part one of our Compass™ Services series as part of our ThinkOn intellectual property. Compass services expand on our other offerings and provide Data Protect, Compass InfoSearch, and Compass Clean Room (PaaS) management features for partners and customers. In Part One, we explore how data archiving and data searching can be simple and effective using ThinkOn Compass Services.
Data archiving can seem like burying treasure beneath a tree in the middle of a forest. How do you find it again when you need to retrieve your most precious assets from among the tangled roots? We need to secure and hide our valuables from thieves who want to steal them, but it’s also important to provide quick and easy access to authorized users.
Deep searching and indexing capabilities help organizations meet compliance initiatives without sacrificing the ability to search archived data. And, just like navigating your way through a tangled forest, a compass is the best tool to get you there.
Taming the data beast
A digital forest contains a complex ecosystem of data species. Some data can easily be stored and retrieved in the cloud, but sensitive data is a different animal. It needs to be handled with care and housed in a secure environment to keep it safe and comply with all local and international regulations.
Ensuring security and compliance for critical data can make it difficult to retrieve and manage that information. Data that’s hard to retrieve slows down operations and provides no insight because you can’t manage and leverage it.
In a CIO article about tech risks, Nicholas D. Evans advises tech leaders to carefully weigh innovation and risk, quoting the Future of Life Institute, “Civilization only flourishes as long as we can win the race between the growing power of technology and the wisdom with which we design and manage it.”[1]
At ThinkOn, our priority is to make data thrive—and it can’t do that if it remains caged and inaccessible. We designed our Compass™ Services package to lock and unlock the data archive cage in a secure and compliant environment, giving the keys back to the owner of the data.
Security means hiding from the bad guys: not confounding your team
Organizations struggle to find data once it has been banished to a long-term archive for compliance or security reasons. That can create frustration for authorized users and negative consequences for the organization.
Efficient data management identifies obsolete or misfiled information, declassifies or deletes data that is no longer needed in a secure environment, and uses automation to analyze data and ensure that it remains secure and compliant. It also leverages data to improve operations, boost marketing efforts, and enhance customer support.
“The real value of data is derived when it’s used,” says Kate Lewis in her article for CIO magazine. “Furthermore, the speed and efficiency in accessing and obtaining that data is even more important as it significantly impacts the value of the data.”[2]
If you’re forced to lock your data away using methods that block easy access for your own team, you may be missing out on the opportunity to leverage its power. You risk stalling operations, escalating data storage costs, and increasing frustration and stress.
“Data protection is serious business for ThinkOn, and our intellectual portfolio reflects that,” said Craig McLellan, ThinkOn’s CEO. “Our web-based interface enables features and functionality that allow partners and customers to manage and protect services and data.”
Secure data retrieval: The InfoSearch is on
When data is stored in a secure environment, access can be severely restricted to protect the integrity of that data. But this also limits its value by restricting its use.
“The importance of data retrieval cannot be overstated…” says Matthew Lynch in an article for The Tech Edvocate. “Without proper data retrieval techniques, companies and individuals risk losing valuable data, resulting in financial and reputational losses. Therefore, it is crucial to implement proper data backup and recovery processes to ensure that lost data can be retrieved quickly and efficiently.”[3]
That’s why we designed Compass™ InfoSearch, an invaluable service that indexes metadata upon ingestion, supporting quick and easy search without the need to retrieve the original data. This one-of-a-kind service finds critical data fast and efficiently without the need to retrieve the data from a repository and manually index it. Therefore, the data remains secure, compliant, and accessible.
Storing sensitive data is not a “set-it-and-forget-it” scenario. Compass™ InfoSearch also serves as a data management tool, providing auditing of data in long-term storage and helping organizations meet compliance and regulatory requirements.
Making data thrive—without the retrieval headaches
Eliminating data retrieval headaches while keeping data secure and compliant can be a challenge for organizations, especially those conducting cross-border business. In today’s new digital reality, the importance of data to an organization—and the ability to access it—is critical.
As Lewis says in her article for CIO magazine, “Fast data access is transformational. Being able to make timely decisions can generate millions or save a business from losing millions….”[4]
The solution to keeping your sensitive data secure while leveraging its power comes down to being prepared. Keep your data environment organized, automate data management, and keep your most critical data secure, compliant, and searchable.
That is the path to finding your way out of the forest with your data intact while reducing stress and frustration, and making the most of your data so it can thrive.
Learn more about how to protect, retrieve, and manage data with ThinkOn’s Compass™ Services.
[1] Nicholas D. Evans. 2023. CIO. “4 ways to ask hard questions about emerging tech risks.” https://www.cio.com/article/647283/4-ways-to-ask-hard-questions-about-emerging-tech-risks.html
[2] Kate Lewis. 2017. CIO. “Is Data Access More Important than Data?” https://www.cio.com/article/234535/is-data-access-more-important-than-data.html
[3] Matthew Lynch. 2023. The Tech Edvocate. “What is Data Retrieval?” https://www.thetechedvocate.org/what-is-data-retrieval/
[4] Kate Lewis. 2017. CIO. “Is Data Access More Important than Data?” https://www.cio.com/article/234535/is-data-access-more-important-than-data.html