Think bigger! Yes, cleaning up ROT is important. Redundant, Outdated, and Trivial files represent a chance to reduce your data footprint. Bigger problems exist out there in terms of data management and data compliance. When it comes to data cleanup, you have to worry about MORE (Misplaced, Orphaned, Risky, and Exposed).
Remember: What You Don’t Have Can’t be Breached. So, yes, we can address ROT issues to reduce data footprint
But we can also reduce risk by doing things like removing data, getting it in the right place, making sure the right people own it, and ensuring that the right people have access to it.
Look for MORE
When it comes to optimizing network-stored unstructured data, organizations are looking for MORE than eliminating ROT. Misplaced, Orphaned, Risky, and Exposed files can contain proprietary or sensitive information that if accessed by an unauthorized user or breached externally can have catastrophic consequences. These files need to be identified so that corrective actions can be made.
All the Right Things
When it comes to data management, making sure that the right people have the right access to the right data at the right time and that the data is located in the right place takes a collaborative effort of security officers, IT, and Line-of-Business Data Owners. When all of this is aligned, productivity is increased, individuals and teams can accelerate production, and the organization can reach its potential.
Requires Integrated Management
Addressing Misplaced, Orphaned, Risky, and Exposed data must be managed and integrated within the confines of the organization’s existing 1) Active Directory groups and permissions, 2) Repositories such as the NTFS file system, SharePoint, and Office 365, and 3) Support tools such as the Microsoft on-premises and cloud ecosystems.