Data Archiving and Data Retention
This section describes options for archiving the data that is used by or stored inside of the StreamV System. It presents the basic terms and concepts associated with Data Retention and Sata Archiving and it describes the various types of data that are stored in or used by the StreamV Application.
Data Archiving
Data archiving is the process of moving data that is no longer being used to a separate data storage device, or a separate system, for long term storage and retention.
Archived data is valuable information that needs to be kept available for one or more reasons and cannot just be deleted or removed from your main or production system.
Not all data needs to be archived. Some data in the system is used only for internal processing purposes and may have little or no long term value. As this data becomes obsolete or useless, it can be deleted from your primary system on an ongoing basis.
Data is archived for reaons which include.
• Historical reference
• Tax or other regulatory compliance requirements. The various legal requirements for data archiving can vary based on the type of data (business records, employee records, payroll records, contracts, emails), being kept, on international, federal and state requirements in the locations in which you operate, and the type of business you are in.
• Legal reasons (data may need to be retained in order to defend against or substantiate a lawsuit).
Data Retention
Data Retention policies are documents that define how you maintain electronic and other information over time. Data retention policies should be designed in order to meet your legal, business, and other data archival requirements, while minimizing the economic costs of storing the required information.
Data Retention involves balancing the goal of removing obsolete or useless information from the system with retaining the information that is useful to the business.
Your Data Retention Policies should Include
• Purpose of the Data Retention Policies
• Individuals responsible and affected by the policies.
• Systems Included
• Data Included
• Data Retention Requirements. List the legal, business and other requirements that the policies are designed to meet.
• Data formats
• Storage
• Access method
• Encryption
Data Archiving versus Data Backups
Data Archives
• Data Archives are used to protect older information that is not needed for day to day operations.
• The information in a data archive should be accessible, (you should be able to access the data and search through it).
• Archived data may be on a system that is different than the system you use for daily transaction processing or it may be located on the same system
• The archived data may be a subset of the data that is maintained on your live or primary system. Data that is used only internally, or that is not required for audit, tax or other reaons may not be moved over from the primary to the archive system and may be deleted instead.
Data Backups
• Data Backups are used to restore data that has been damaged, corrupted or destroyed.
• Data Backups should allow your business to recover and resume operations quickly in the event of a major system failue or another disaster that results in data loss.
Data Retention – Data Types
This section describes the different types of data that are created and maintained by or accessed from StreamV
Database Files
The StreamV Application normally runs on an SQL Database. The Database contains well over 100 different files (tables).
The StreamV database files contain various types of information, such as
• Master data records, such as customers, catalog items, vendors, contacts.
• Transactional Data. Accounts Payable and Receivable invoice header and line items, journal entries, inventory transactions, data
• Control information (system policies or parameters, text information used by the system, etc.)
• Table information such as payment terms, shipping methods, operators, states, countries, currencies, and other user defined information (Gencode Tables) that are used to validate and control the informatin that can be entered in various fields in the system.
Image and Document Files
The StreamV Application includes integrated imaging and document management options which allow you to store files (such as scanned images and documents, emails, etc) on local or network drives and tie them to database records such as customers, contacts, vendors, items, etc). Normally an images record is used to associate a document stored on disk with the appropriate sql records in the database.
Emails
StreamV allows users to compose emails, and to email one or more documents (such as order confirmations, invoices, statements) directly from the system. These emails can be optionally routed through outlook. The emails generated by the system are not stored in the database but on the local or network email system being used to send the messages.
More:
Data Retention Guidelines