IT Planner: 5 Steps to Continuous Data Protection - IT Planner: 5 Steps to Continuous Data Protection (
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It’s important, though, that a CDP system be relatively transparent, Dunkelberger said.
“You can insulate your people from the complexity as you design the system. ... You want a system that allows them to do their jobs and not have to worry every day about security,” Dunkelberger said. “You also have to plan for workloads, travel, time zone changes, etc. You need a good training and awareness program for all employees who will be empowered to use the CDP.”
In addition, organizations should assess both networks and business models to determine risks, as well as operational and financial exposures, said Jonathan Nguyen-Duy, manager of business continuity services at Verizon Business.
“Coordinated network and continuity planning are essential,” Nguyen-Duy said. “Base decisions on the principles of risk management. Identify critical business functions and processes and deploy assets to help ensure seamless operations.”
Step 2: Determine data.
It’s critical to determine what data and applications you need to protect.
Key company data should be identified early in the CDP planning stages. What data is of highest value will all depend on the company, Dunkelberger said, but there are staples that all enterprises need to protect.
Chief among them is e-mail.
“Everybody needs more and more data to do their jobs,” Dunkelberger said. “I saw a great quote the other day from an analyst: 90 percent of all company data ends up in e-mail. I don’t know if that’s exactly true, but it might be close. It’s the most commonly used office application. Think about how much data you have in your PC—most of it probably came from somebody sending you a Word document, a spreadsheet, a photo or something else through e-mail.”
Equally central to CDP storage are instant messaging logs, database content, financial records and CRM (customer relationship management) records. All should be channeled to a CDP system.
Not needed are music files, video games, movies and other kinds of personal documents accrued by employees. These types of files will only slow the entire CDP/storage process. If these kinds of files commonly exist on company desktops, laptops and servers, then some other serious corporate issues need to be addressed.
