The Data Deluge: Why Archiving Is More Relevant than Ever

In today’s data-driven world, businesses are generating information at an unprecedented rate. One firm estimates the global datasphere will reach a staggering 175 zettabytes by 2025. This data tsunami encompasses not just the traditional structured kind (think enterprise application databases), but also a vast ocean of semi-structured and unstructured data. Emails, social media posts, sensor readings, and video files all contribute to this ever-growing information pool.

While the potential for insights hidden within this data is undeniable, simply collecting it isn’t enough. Organizations need a robust data archiving strategy to unlock its true value. Here’s why data archiving, encompassing all data types, remains a critical business function in the digital age.

Beyond Backups: Archiving for Long-term Value

Data backups are essential for disaster recovery, but they’re not the same as data archives. Backups are typically short-term copies used to restore lost or corrupted data. Archives, on the other hand, are designed for long-term, secure storage of inactive or less frequently accessed data.

Here’s where the business value kicks in:

• Compliance and eDiscovery: Businesses across industries face a growing web of regulations mandating data retention for specific periods. Archiving ensures compliance with these regulations, reducing the risk of hefty fines and legal repercussions. Additionally, archived data can be readily retrieved for eDiscovery purposes, streamlining legal investigations.
• Improved Decision Making: Business decisions are increasingly data-driven. Archived data, even seemingly outdated information, can provide valuable historical context for current trends and support the development of more informed future strategies. For instance, analyzing customer purchase patterns across several years, including archived data, can help predict future demand and optimize inventory management.
• Unlocking Hidden Insights: Advanced analytics tools can uncover valuable insights from vast datasets, including archived unstructured data. Sentiment analysis of archived social media posts, for example, can reveal long-term customer trends and brand perception shifts over time.
• Cost Optimization: Storing all your active data on expensive primary storage is a surefire way to strain your IT budget. Archiving less-frequently accessed data on more cost-effective secondary storage frees up space on your primary systems, boosting performance and reducing storage costs.

Archiving Beyond The Database: Embracing All Data Types

While traditional structured data like financial records and customer databases have always been archived, the rise of semi-structured and unstructured data demands a broader approach.

• Semi-structured data: Often found in emails and log files, it has some organization but doesn’t fit neatly into rows and columns. Archiving solutions need to handle the specific formats and retrieval needs of this data type.
• Unstructured data: This is actually the largest category of enterprise data, and encompasses the vast world of text, images, video, and social media content. Extracting value from unstructured data requires specialized tools that can index and search for relevant information within these files.

Modern data archiving solutions are built to handle this diverse data landscape. They offer features like:

• Scalability: To accommodate the ever-growing volume and variety of data.
• Flexible storage tiers: To store different data types on the most cost-effective storage solution.
• Metadata management: To tag and index archived data for efficient search and retrieval.
• Security: To ensure data privacy and compliance with regulations.

The Data-Driven Future Demands Smart Archiving

As the data deluge continues, organizations that embrace a comprehensive data archiving strategy will be well-positioned to navigate the information age. By unlocking the value hidden within all their data, businesses can gain a competitive edge, ensure compliance, and make data-driven decisions that fuel long-term success.

Discover more on how Solix delivers on the full range of data archiving requirements: SOLIXCloud Enterprise Data Archiving Solution | Manage data growth