Many of our customers see their data as just data, but an effective data management strategy means understanding how data is stored, protected, and used later to make money. That means figuring out what your data is: Storage, Backup, or Archive?

Storage Everyone has Storage - it's your "current projects," your "work in progress," or just your "hard drive." You need to store data safely and securely but you also need to have access to it. In general, losing your Storage means losing current data, so you need more than just Storage to have seamless data management.

Archive An Archive is Storage that grows old. More like a museum than a library, archives are data that needs to be accessible but also safe and secure for years. Archives have value - sometimes reusing assets can make you money.

The life of an archive also needs to be considered. Will the storage media that you choose last as long as you need it to - sometimes 10-20 years? How do you know that the data you're archiving to will even be a readable format by then?

Backup is a frequent and regular process of copying your most vital data to a secure place. Backup routines should be run frequently and on a regular schedule. Constantly overlooked, Backup has no value until you lose data - and then its value can be as much as your business is worth.

When evaluating your data management needs, you need to determine what your individual Storage, Backup, and Archive needs are. Many organizations think that some combination of the three can be taken care of using the same hardware. Sometimes that's true - other times it's not.