Informatica Perspectives

One of the challenges I face as a database archiving implementer and practitioner is where to store legacy database data after an application is retired.  Typical requirements include:

• Business wants to be able to access data should they need it to support ad hoc operational needs.
• Legal wants to be able to access data should they need it for litigation.
• IT wants to get rid of the data because it is costly to maintain the old application and technology it resides on.
• Executives want a solution that doesn’t create another silo of technology.
• Records Managers want to make sure data is purged when the retention period matures to maintain compliance.

The announcement of the CommVault and Informatica partnership addresses many of these requirements in one swoop.

Informatica’s Data Archive technology identifies what data is to be archived and creates the archive files. CommVault’s Simpana platform ingests the archive making it searchable while applying data retention and management policies from a central console.

Legacy database data is archived to a compressed XML file – including transactions, master data, application metadata and style sheets used to preserve the presentation of data consistent with the original application meeting both business and legal requirements. When someone needs to view the data, they query the data independent of where it resides and view it using native application-like views maintaining the original business context.  This functionality addresses Uniform Electronic Transactions ACT (UETA) Section 12.  In summary, if a law requires that a record be retained, it needs to accurately reflect the information when the record was first generated and it needs to remain accessible for later reference.   It also provides a way to meet Federal Rules of Evidence Article X. Rule 1001.  Summarizing again - if data is stored in a computer, any printout or other output readable by sight, shown to reflect the data accurately, is an "original".

Because the data is stored in Simpana’s platform, it can be easily indexed and searchable for any business user with authorized access.  Additionally, Records Managers can deploy Big Bucket data classification taxonomies for defining Records Retention Schedules for all data types without having to scour the data center for rogue copies of data in disparate systems.   When it is time to purge aged legacy data, they can execute the policy using a single console. IT can leverage their investment in CommVault and Informatica across multiple applications while shutting down costly legacy applications.  The combined solution will offer significant cost savings while improving compliance for customers addressing executive’s requirements.

Julie Lockner, President & Founder, CentricInfoTM
www.CentricInfo.com