Many companies practice asset management as a way to get the most out of their investments in buildings, machinery, vehicles, and storage facilities. If your company counts data its most valuable assets, then consider how asset management strategies apply to your data assets. Practices like tracking costs and returns over the entire life cycle of your data, from its collection to its destruction, can help you get the best possible return on your investment in data.
Collection, storage and analysis phase
When we talk about planning for the life cycle of a data asset, we talk about predicting the storage and handling costs of your data during several phases. First, there is the collection phase. Here, you need to plan for the costs of developing data collection systems and mining the data your company needs. Next, there is the storage and analysis phase. Here you need to plan for the costs and labor involved with turning your raw data into meaningful information for your company
There is plenty to be said elsewhere about planning for your data assets’ needs during the collection and storage phases. Equally important but overlooked are the needs of your data assets when they are no longer useful to your company. If you spend more on storing and securing your data than the return, it’s better to erase that data. It is important to factor in this step when you are planning for your data assets’ life cycle needs.
Your data deletion planning will not be very complicated for some data, like consumer preferences in the clothing item’s color. For other data, like the financial information of your customers, you will need to plan on a data destruction method that protects your customers and complies with state and federal regulations. With data like this, it is often not enough to rely on non-mechanical data destruction methods like degaussers. You will need to plan on investing in mechanical data destruction tools, such as data crushers, to ensure that your data remains secure even at the end of its life cycle.
Proper planning
Properly planning for the needs of your assets throughout their life cycles is a good way to minimize costs and maximize your return on your investments. For data assets, you need to plan for the costs involved with collecting, analyzing, storing, and destroying data. It is important to thoroughly destroy your data using physical means. So, planning on investing in a data crusher is a critical component of your data management strategy.
Contact Phiston
When you need data destroyed for good, Phiston Technologies can provide you with the tools to do the job securely. Feel free to contact us for more information about our products and services.
