For businesses, data is important. Unless companies take steps to manage their data more effectively, it could end up being stolen or falling into the wrong hands. Data that gets stolen can then be used against businesses, employees, and customers. Regulatory bodies enact strict punishments on companies foolish enough to let their data leak. Good data management can prevent these things from happening to you.
In this article, you will learn some effective data management tips, brought to you from the experts, to help you to manage yours in a better way:
Hiring Consultants
Unless you have experience in data management, hiring a consultancy firm is a good idea. Even with experience consultants can come in handy. Working with a team of data governance consultants will aid your organisation’s performance and optimise data management, reducing the chances of corruption or loss. When looking for a consultancy firm to hire, great care should be taken. It is important to know that not all firms are of equal quality, some are much better than others. Until you find an organisation with very good reviews and a positive reputation, you should not hire anyone.
Digital Security
To effectively manage data, a lot of effort needs to go into achieving robust data security. Cybercrime has never been more common than it is today. Businesses are targeted on a daily basis, having their data stolen. Data that falls into the wrong hands can be used for fraud. It should be noted that if your organisation’s data is stolen, it can get you into a lot of trouble. Regulatory bodies issue fines to organisations whose data gets stolen. Customers may also stop doing business with you if they learn that leaks are occurring and criminals are getting hold of their personal information.
Internal Protection
Studies show that most data leaks occur from within. In other words, employees are the biggest threat to your company, not shadowy organised crime groups. The vast majority of data leaks are actually accidental. Untrained staff should therefore not be given access to sensitive data. Not only are untrained staff more likely to leak data accidentally, but they are also significantly more likely to corrupt databases, losing the data stored inside them. You can prevent these things from happening by only allowing authorised, trained individuals access to your organisation’s most sensitive data.
Using Cloud
Hardly anybody uses physical storage devices anymore, mainly because they are outdated and ineffective. Businesses tend to use the cloud nowadays because it confers greater protections and is much more affordable. Historically, when data held on a storage device became corrupted, it was almost impossible to restore it. Businesses would have to store the same string of data on several devices just to protect it. Now, this is not necessary, as cloud corruption is very rare. Cloud storage can, therefore, save you time and money.
Regular Backups
On the topic of backups, it is important that they are performed regularly. Unless you are on top of backups, data could be lost. Even in the cloud, data that is not backed up can be permanently lost. Once something has been deleted there is no way to restore it, at least after the 30-day grace period ends. Most storage providers will give you up to 30 days to restore deleted files. Once this period ends, data is lost permanently and deleted from all servers. Backups should be performed once a week and whenever changes are made to a file.
Archiving Files
When files are no longer in use, archive them. Do not make the mistake of deleting files not currently in use. Completely removing files can be a big mistake, as you never know when you are going to need to use them again in the future. Archiving files will ensure that if you ever need to access redundant data again in the future, all you have to do is make your way to your data archive. You should hire an archive manager to properly handle file archiving for you, as it requires some expertise.
Maintenance Schedule
On your business database, maintenance should be performed every now and again. If you are using software to manage your database for you, then you do not need to worry about manual maintenance, your software will handle it for you. It does need to be noted though, even if you are using software, every so often you should just go through your files and folders, ensuring nothing has become corrupted. Recognizing corrupted files early can help to prevent unnecessary data loss. A single corrupted file can go on to corrupt an entire database if it is not identified and removed.
Data Entry
Unless you have training in data science, entering data into your business’s database is likely not something you will be confident doing. A lot of business owners make the mistake of thinking that they can manage their databases independently, but they are rarely able to. Improper data entry can cause widespread corruption. At the very least, it can lead to data being misinterpreted in the future when it needs to be used. Either take time to familiarise yourself with proper data entry and management or hire somebody to handle these things for you.
Recovery Plan
File corruption can happen at any time. If you do not take steps to prepare for and prevent it, then when it does happen, it will take you by surprise. File corruption can easily be protected by performing regular backups. It should be noted, a single corrupted file can infect an entire database, ruining all of the data that’s held within. Be sure to hold data in several databases, so you can access it in case one database becomes corrupted. Investigate the causes of corrupted data so you can rule out intentional sabotage.
Unless data is managed carefully, leaks and thefts can occur. Such incidents can have a detrimental impact on a small business’s reputation. Consumers will not do business with organisations not taking steps to protect their data after all, why would they? With cybercrime on the rise, there has never been a better time to invest money in data management.
