Reliance on data & storage resources has continued to grow in importance for most organizations. CIOs are facing increased regulations and data leakage concerns and IT administrators face the steadily growing challenge of overseeing larger and more complex storage infrastructures while simultaneously being tasked with the responsibility to ensure Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) is maintained at reasonable levels. Managing storage resources isn’t just about the volume or availability of data anymore—it’s also about the enforcement of company policies and knowing how storage is utilized to enable efficient utilization and mitigate risk. The amount of data companies host will continue to grow and this will necessitate the ongoing need for sound strategic planning and proper responses to organizational changes.
Provides Managerial Insight
Today, since there is no real insight into the business value of the files, it is very hard to translate business requirements such as: expire all stale files or better protect all the important files. By being able to both automatically and manually classify files according to pre-defined rules, organizations can manage their data more effectively to decide what should be retained and where should it be stored. This reduces costs of storage and mitigates risks for exposure of sensitive data.
Built-in File Classification Rules
With the functionality built into the Windows Server, administrators can classify files based on content and location so that the files in File Servers can be more intelligently protected and managed based upon existing business taxonomy.
The organization’s files are classified allowing for a number of scenarios:
Identify sensitive data on public servers.
Automated expiration of stale data saving time and resources normally spent managing the data.
Use custom IT scripts – for example: Move low business impact files to more affordable storage hardware.
Use third party software integration such as: Optimize backup SLAs.
In each case the Windows File Classification Infrastructure helps improve the quality of file management by allowing file management based on business value.
Enables Partners to Deliver Rich Classification Solutions
The Windows File Classification Infrastructure provides an extensible infrastructure that enables ISVs to build rich end to end solutions for classifying files and applying policy based on classification.
The infrastructure helps bridge different ISV offerings by persisting the file classification so products that classify files can work with products that consume the file classification. For example if a data leakage prevention product classifies files as containing personal information then a backup product can back it up to an encrypted store instead of the regular store.
IT administrators can build in-house solutions that plug-into the Classification Infrastructure and interoperate with ISV product offerings.
These products and solutions will leverage File Classification to reduce cost and risk and bring GRC (Governance Risk and Compliance) and IT-GRC solutions to the organization’s file infrastructure.
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