Archive Now and Simplify Data Migrations

In a recent post, I mentioned that solutions providers need to help their customers prepare for eDiscovery. I highlighted how it is important for providers to help their customers develop an information management plan and identify where all electronically stored information is located, to develop a consistent classification and retention plan of action. Solutions providers must also conduct litigation exercises with customers to assess their discovery preparedness level, and implement advanced legal hold processes to minimize the risk of non-compliance. And last, but most important, they should ensure that customers are using backup for recovery and archiving for discovery.

The bottom line is that having the right information plan in place for your customers can help bridge the gap between business, legal and IT, while reducing risks and costs.

Something solutions providers should also consider when preparing their customers for eDiscovery is migration. Microsoft states that more than 70 percent of organizations plan to upgrade to Exchange 2010 within the next year. This is a great opportunity for solutions providers to help their customers to not only plan a successful migration, but also to provide the archiving and eDiscovery tools necessary to make it a successful migration.

Migrating can be time- and resource-intensive; however, archiving before migration drastically reduces the amount of email to move while keeping end-user access transparent.

One way to ease the time and resources involved in migration is to deduplicate. When partners deduplicate their customers’ data prior to migration, there will of course be less data to migrate. Deduplication technology enables partners to help customers of all sizes reduce data and management complexities.

Another way to ease migration challenges is to clean up the Personal Storage Table (PST) Files. Mailbox quotas lead users to create PSTs that are easily corruptible, introduce risk to the organization and consume storage and backup resources that cannot be centrally managed or easily searched. Solutions providers should enable their customers with more control and consider archiving, and then delete the original PSTs. Unloading the PSTs will also help ease the search complexity during eDiscovery and compliance exercises.

Solutions providers should help their customers set retention policies to comply with various regulations. By implementing the proper controls for information retention and protection, solutions providers can confidently allow their customers to share information freely. Customers’ information can be accessed from a variety of devices such as tablets or smartphones, shared via social media, and stored in the cloud. The organization’s ability to secure this information, while allowing their employees the ability to access it virtually anywhere, improves customer productivity and reduces information risk.

Solutions providers – when it is time for your customers to migrate, remember to archive now to simplify the migration. Your customers look to your expertise to guide them through this process. Easing the pain of migration by implementing the right backup and archiving software before you begin the migration process will save you and your customers valuable time and money in the long run.

Randy Cochran is VP of channel sales for the Americas at Symantec. Monthly guest blogs such as this one are part of The VAR Guy’s annual sponsorship program. Read all of Cochran’s guest blogs here.