The work of any company involves collecting and storing data. At the same time, it is necessary to ensure sufficient protection of this information, especially if it concerns storing personal data. In this article, we will analyze the best way to organize archive storage.
Why is data storage important?
The answer is simple – it is required by law. Supervisory authorities have the right to request documents such as bills and invoices for audits, documents confirming the conduct of commercial activities, and documents that are necessary for paying taxes.
According to the law, companies must keep documents, both paper and electronic, within five years. Storing documents electronically is much more convenient. First, you will not need physical space for boxes and cabinets. Secondly, electronic documentation is easier and faster to retrieve. In addition, it is more reliable – natural disasters can destroy paper archives. However, there is another question: which storage location to choose? Would it be a local server, or is it worth moving the data to the cloud?
How to organize an electronic archive?
As mentioned above, the storage of electronic documents must be secure. The archive requires a well-prepared IT infrastructure. You can choose local storage or rely on the services of a cloud provider. We will talk about the advantages and disadvantages of both options later. The main thing is high security, smooth operation, and availability.
The electronic archive is used by many different departments, and therefore access to documents should be convenient and fast. For large companies, with many branches in different locations, an electronic archive allows you to combine all the data in one place and give access to employees from different departments.
Electronic archives are more convenient than traditional paper archives in almost every way:
- Faster searching for documents
- Reducing the risk of document duplication and loss
- Simplified interaction between remote branches
- Convenient structuring, automation
.
Cloud VS local archive
Many companies traditionally store their databases on local servers. At first sight, it seems simpler and more reliable, because the archive is literally at your fingertips. However, this solution has many disadvantages. The main one is that not every company can provide a sufficient level of security.
Here is the risk of physical access – very often even an outsider can gain access to the server room. There is also a lack of protection against hacking as well as no backup in the geo-remote storage.
In addition, owning a server room is always associated with capital expenditures. You need to buy equipment, upgrade it in the future, and fix or replace it in case of failure.
With cloud archive storage, you pay only for the actual capacity you use. At the same time, you can increase the amount of resources anytime. In addition, the provider ensures high availability and duplication of data to a geo-remote data center. There are information security specialists who take care of data protection according to the existing legislation.
Choosing a cloud provider
The provider you entrust your databases to should offer a scalable, affordable cloud, backup with disaster recovery capabilities, reliable physical server protection, and information security tools.
Cloud4Y offers an Archive Storage service – a secure and cost-effective service for businesses of all sizes and types. Cloud storage meets legal requirements for data protection. You will be able to store regulatory documents and archives, long-term backups, videos, and much more.
