Protect Against Redundant, Obsolete, and Trivial (ROT) Data
When cloud first became the buzz in the industry, there were many reasons why organizations were concerned. We heard mostly about the fear around the security of the cloud, but there were some other concerns as well. One concern we are hearing about today is around data management in the cloud. Poor data management practices can lead to Redundant, Obsolete, and Trivial (ROT) data.
When we refer to redundant data, we are not referring to the 3-2-1 rule with backup and disaster recovery. This type of redundant data has no value, it is simply unnecessary duplicate data.
Obsolete data in this case is referring to data that is no longer needed because it is no longer relevant. It has since been updated and has no legal value or lends a hand to meeting compliance regulations.
Trivial data is simply not important, for any reason.
If your business is suffering from ROT data, you are exposing yourselves to many negative effects including increased security risks, increased compliance risks, increased liability risk, reduced productivity, and higher storage costs.
However, there are some simple steps you can take to protect your organizations from ROT data:
- Create a classification system that includes definitions, labels, and groups to help organize your data.
- Establish a sole source of truth (SSOT) location for each category of cloud data.
- Define policies around ROT data in your organization.
- Constantly revisit and revamp your policies.
ROT data can cause serious issues within an organization, not to mention ROT data in the cloud can really cause costs to skyrocket for your business.
Thankfully, using the proper tools and educating yourself and your staff can help you reduce the cloud costs associated with ROT. The good news? You do not have to attack this alone. 2W Tech is a technology solutions provider that has IT Consultants on staff that specialize in Microsoft Azure cloud solutions. Let our expert team guide you in your cloud journey and help protect your business from ROT data.
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