One often-overlooked aspect of data lifecycle management is archiving data, which involves relocating data that’s not currently being utilized—but shouldn’t necessarily be deleted—out of production. Archiving data allows you to safely and securely store data outside of the working environment without losing access to it. But that’s not the only reason to archive your data.
Here, we dive into four of the major benefits of leveraging a data archiving solution. If you need a refresher on archiving concepts, review our blog about the differences between data archives and backups.
1. Improve org speed and performance
If your Salesforce environment is cluttered with obsolete or old information, files, and data that aren’t in active use, it can lower overall productivity and adoption of the system. Users will need to spend extra time working through the bloat to find what they need to do their jobs, and it can be frustrating to deal with issues like slow loading times for search, reports, and calculations (and more).
Wasted time also results in lost profits. If users are struggling to use their CRM, it can impact the user experience. If a customer is on a call with a customer service rep–both the employee and customer are impacted by the delays caused by a cluttered, bloated system. By removing unused data from the system, an archiving solution can ensure a better experience for both.
2. Ensure data compliance
One of the reasons why companies hold on to data past the point of it remaining useful in day-to-day operations is due to compliance concerns. Certain industries have specific regulations (like FERPA for education or HIPAA for healthcare) that dictate designated retention periods. Deleting data ahead of schedule can put the organization at risk of non-compliance, resulting in costly fines and other repercussions.
On the other end of the spectrum, there are regulations like GDPR that impose a maximum retention period and other data removal requirements. With competing priorities, companies must define custom retention policies to account for both sides.
With an automated archiving solution, companies can define custom archiving policies and set custom retention limits to safely remove data from Salesforce while accommodating for regulations.
3. Securely archive sensitive legacy data
Cyberattacks are on the rise and don’t show any signs of letting up any time soon. From ransomware and viruses to phishing attacks and data breaches, data security must be a top priority for any business.
And it’s not just outside threats that archiving data helps protect against; threats can come from suppliers, employees, or others with intimate access to your Salesforce data. Ensure your archiving solution has proper security and permission sets in place to monitor who has access to your data.
4. Save on storage costs
As your business evolves and grows, so does your customer data. In addition to the need to handle data in larger capacities, you should consider strategically archiving data to scale with the growth of your business, without incurring additional costs.
In short, without a manageable way to remove data from your system, a continual increase in data equates to increased storage costs. Data archiving allows you to transfer unused data to an external server, freeing up resources and space in your Salesforce production environment.
Get started with Own Archive
Now you understand the benefits of archiving data, you can implement the right archiving solution for your business.
With Own Archive, you can remove specific records and attachments from production and securely store immutable replicas to the cloud without changing the integrity of the data relationships. Archive is also equipped with advanced compliance features like Purge Policies (for immediate removal of a group of archived records) and Legal Hold (to ensure data is held for legal purposes)
Contact us today to set up a consultation or request a demo to find out how Own (formerly OwnBackup) simplifies data governance.
