Separating Backup And Archiving: Securing Your Digital Information

By Steve Blumenau, Vice President Technology, Digital Archiving, Iron Mountain Digital

Due to the enormous growth of digital data, combined with shrinking backup windows and the recognition that all data needs to be 'discoverable' at any time, IT departments today need to reevaluate existing data protection and archiving processes – or perhaps address digital archiving at the IT level for the first time – and separate backup from archiving rather than "burying it in the basement" as records management. Implementing digital archiving at the IT level and separating it from backup will help organizations to meet new information management challenges, including regulatory and compliance pressures, while mitigating the risk of data loss and application downtime, as well as help to keep costs down in a challenging economy. Backup solutions alone don't prevent regulatory trouble – while they help meet requirements for duplicate, tamper-free, and secure records, they are not sufficient for a fully Compliant Records Management program. The demands of compliance and legal discovery require quick access to specific records whenever necessary, and a secure audit trail of actions as well as proof of chain-of-custody against every record.

Digital archiving solutions address the necessity for quick retrieval, audit trails, and retention periods that satisfy regulation and litigation needs.Still backup solutions are essential, as disaster recovery and business continuity demand the ability to fully protect and recover all data to the most recent point in time after a failure. Backup and digital archiving solutions are both critical components of electronic storage, yet they address different needs. In short, backup cannot replace archiving.

Conversely, archiving cannot replace backup. However, when both backup and digital archiving solutions are clearly separated and jointly implemented into a data protection and compliant records management program – and the roles of IT and records management are blended together – organizations can successfully meet today's business and legal requirements and keep both storage and potential litigations costs down. This article will address the need for enterprises to implement both solutions as part of their compliant records and data protection programs.