Sharing data across oceans or sending information high-up in the space is no more a subject of rocket science. Even a layman with no technical background can leverage technology to do tasks which appeared far-fetched years ago. Today, technology is easily available and the introduction of International Society for Small and Medium Enterprises (ISSME) has led to rise of many small-medium enterprises (SMEs). Most of the SMEs have very less data generated when compared to other global leaders. With not many data to secure, data administrators of such small and medium businesses rely on traditional methods of in-house data storage—Hard-disks, CDs, Files. These traditional tools are adopted as they are cost-effective and they don’t require intervention of IT experts. As the usability of latest technologies like Big Data and cloud is becoming proficient among large enterprises, SMEs are restraining their evolution by failing to observe the new industrial trends.

The implementation of new technologies enhances the work efficiency of an enterprise and lowers the risks. The propagation of risk embarks when sensitive data or information of an enterprise gets deleted or destroyed during disasters—data and documents include future business plans, non disclosure agreements, technology drawings and design papers. There are also chances of officials getting sued due to some dreadful instances that occurred in healthcare, finance and other sectors. To prevent such events, most of the enterprises—small, medium and large are leveraging cloud-based technologies like ‘Cloud Archiving’. The objective of cloud archiving is to provide a data storage environment as a service which is governed by regulating policies offering long-term data retention, security, and compliance functions.

What is cloud archiving and why should SMEs adopt it?

Gartner projects that in 2016, the cloud services will observe 16.5 percent climb when compared to the previous year. It means most of the industries whether it is IT, manufacturing or healthcare all are adopting cloud-based technologies. If an enterprise is already practicing cloud computing then it is very important for CIOs to know that cloud archiving is very different from cloud backup and recovery.

A cloud backup tool is used in order to prevent situations like breaches and outages from happening. The backup and restoration method is used to restore lost data from cloud. Whereas, cloud archiving solutions create copies of data which are intended to summarize all the details regarding emails and documents. The detail comprises information of all users who viewed, and modified the information at any instance of time. All these information’s are under the lens of legal or governance department within the organization and if an official is getting sued for some cases then cloud archiving will provide all the information with greater transparency. So cloud archiving plays as a best practice for businesses in regulated industries.

To shed more light on cloud archiving, here is a citation which will help you better understand the solution. In healthcare sector, where Electronic Medical Records (EMR) and Electronic Health Records (EHR) are dominating the patience medical records, treating a patient has been made simpler by cloud technology. But when that patient is readmitted to the hospital a doctor requires case history, and prescription to execute medical procedures. So to govern such patient’s records, cloud archiving plays an important role by compiling all the minor information and details of modifications made on the data. This helps doctor to omit risks and successfully treat patients with better work efficiency.

If an enterprise has more data stored in emails then chances are more that the email system may become unstable. To purge those effects, an enterprise can deploy cloud email archiving which is a cost effective method—prices are subjected per-mailbox or per-month depending upon the solution provider. Email archiving does not require hardware, experts or software, the whole solutions is entirely in-house.

There are plenty of cloud archiving solution provider—EMC, Sonian, iron Mountain, Nirvanix, and Clearspace. These vendors have their own cloud archiving specialized features along with e-discovery and data archiving. And this is how cloud archiving helps to minimize risks and improve work efficiency.