The myth about Data Remediation

The word remediation derives from the term ‘remedy’- that is, righting a wrong or correcting a mistake. Therefore, it is a misconception that data remediation is simply about removing the business data you no longer need.

All organisations need to understand the value of the data they hold against a number of drivers:

• For Public bodies (including central and local government), is the information of public or historical interest?
• For Financial Services/Utilities/Pharmaceutical, are there legal obligations that require the data be retained?

All organisations need to consider Data Protection and privacy regulations as well.

Ultimately the solution is not simply deleting or destroying data.

In fact, it’s the overall management of data and while this certainly might include cleaning up redundant or duplicate files, the process is much more about truly understanding the data you hold.

What you do with it, whether this is deletion, organisation, categorisation or migration, all forms part of the data remediation process.

At Automated Intelligence we like to think of data remediation as a five-step process.

• Understanding: The first thing you need to do is understand the data you hold. We call this ‘ data profiling’ and it helps you to comprehend what actually you need to keep and what you don’t. This in turn, identifies where cost savings can be made – often huge savings. Too many organisations pay exactly the same for storing a valuable record as one that is completely trivial.
• Organising: A major incentive for organisations is the ability to bring order to a chaotic mesh of files, records, documents… the list goes on. Automated Intelligence provide automatic categorisation of content using machine learning alongside semantic and linguistic reasoning, making it much easier for you to find the information you require, and much quicker too.
• Deleting/Archiving: So, it’s back to deletion. Certainly there will be times when cleansing of data is required; not all information is needed and there will be an opportunity to save money if it is removed. But another option is archiving non-core data to a more cost-effective cloud storage solution, i.e. Microsoft Azure. The data is accessible at any time, but the cost reduction is significant.
• Migrating: Often the end goal for organisations is to consolidate their valuable data to a new cleansed environment, whether this is SharePoint, Office 365 or the aforementioned Azure. With the Automated Intelligence approach, migration is carried out in an accurate, timely and audited manner. Legacy systems can be de-commissioned, simplifying your information architecture and providing a fit for purpose future-proof data platform.
• Governance: Finally, the data that has been organised and categorised now has the security, retention and access requirements of your information policy applied to it. This application of governance requirements, in turn, reduces corporate risk and increases productivity.

Data Remediation is the buzz term of the moment- and as you can see, it’s so much more than simple deletion.