Archive Retention Policies - Use Them

So one of my biggest pet peeves in the archiving space is retention policies. This is probably in the top 10 requirements of any major firm looking to deploy an archive today. They require the ability to set a single or multiple retention policies for their data. So my question to virtually any customer that I've ever spoken to is this. WHY ARE YOU NOT DELETING DATA???

I've spoken at a few different conferences over the past few years and one of the items I like to get feedback on is in regard to retention policy adherence. The first question that I'll ask is "how many of you have an email archive deployed and have retention policies set on your data". Being that these conferences are about archiving, virtually everyone raises their hands. Now brings the second and guilt-ridden question, "how many of you have data that is OLDER than the retention policy?" The frustration starts to brew when all of the hands stay up from the first question. Why insist on retention policies if you don't use them?

The last time I presented these questions was before a group of 75 CIO's. These people know they have data that is currently not being properly managed. That is what the application and archive storage is for. Retention policy adherence is something that needs to be adhered to more. If there is a policy, follow it. If you decide you're not sure how long you're going to need your data, pick a timeframe of X and ALSO have your policy state that it will be up for review on that date. If you need to extend the date out again, you now have that ability to do so and the data won't become lost in a graveyard waiting for someone to dig it up.

When I was at a client site a few years back, one of their senior directors came up to me with two backup tapes in his hand. He looked at me and said, "can you recover this by tomorrow?" I honestly had never seen that kind of tape in my life. I looked at him and actually laughed. My first response back was, "WHY do you still have this tape, is there anything on it?" All he knew was that there was a post-it with the label "1997 - Email Data". This company had a 3 year retention policy at the time. So clearly I assumed the tape was headed to be destroyed since it was 2004. Much to my disbelief, it was headed back to the storage area in case they needed it. This is a classic example of what not to do.

From our experiences working with customers across all verticals and across the globe, the one thing that courts are looking for is adherence to whatever policy you have. If you have data that is 10 years old, but for some reason destroyed data exactly at 7 years, the court assumes you are hiding something. If your policy is to only keep data 7 years, then get rid of the 10 year old data.

Archive Retention Policies are there for many great reasons. Abide by them and use them. Be consistent.