Data archiving: Three key elements

• Archiving software, from companies like Autonomy Zantaz, EMC Corp., Mimosa Systems Inc. and Symantec Corp., manages the location, movement and disposition of data.
• Storage hardware, from companies such as EMC, Hewlett-Packard (HP) Co., Hitachi and NetApp, receives the data to be preserved and specialized platforms handle encryption, protection, retrieval and destruction of data.
• Management software, from vendors like Abrevity Inc., Attenex Corp., Autonomy Corp., Clearwell Systems Inc., i365 (a Seagate Company) and Kazeon Systems Inc., provides services like search, classification and e-discovery capability.

But most applications don't fall into these neat classifications. As they develop their products and the market matures, vendors continually add features like e-discovery support, search and data movement, blurring the lines among storage, archiving and management. The variety of elements and overla...

Navigating the archiving market starts with an evaluation of your company's objectives for its archive. If the objective is to serve business demands like in-house e-discovery or retention to comply with regulations, it makes sense to let data management features drive product selection. But if IT needs a system to control data growth or enable lifecycle management, higher-level search and e-discovery features are less relevant. Regardless of the initial object, it's likely the archive will eventually serve both business and IT demands.

Not all archives will use all three archiving elements presented here. Some organizations send data to an archiving platform directly from a custom application, while others will use conventional storage systems rather than investing in a specialized device as their archive target.

Brian Greenberg, an independent IT strategy consultant based in Chicago, suggests a strategy is needed before expanding the archive environment. "Larger organizations, especially in regulated industries, are looking for federated search and management across data types, but smaller, less-regulated companies might be able to keep their data in silos," he said. "The key is the level of overarching management needed."

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