Friday 3 June 2011

Document Management Benefit - Improved Security.

How secure is my data? This is a common question that people ask when introduced to OnDemand document management and it is a justified one. In general terms, there is no doubt that all of us are more security conscious today than we have ever have been in the past, some are even obsessive about it.

When it comes to data security in the cloud however, we have to be particularly concerned. Directors of companies are culpable if they do not take this aspect of their business seriously and can be prosecuted if they are found wanting. Such concern have also been compounded by the recent collapse of the Amazon cloud that affected hundreds, possibly even thousands, of web sites and services, probably costing companies a substantial amount in lost revenue.

So, how secure is my data? Especially when companies like mine are promoting the use of cloud technology to provide business critical services such as OnDemand document management. It has to be said that opinion differs greatly on this subject depending on who you talk to and there are many articles and websites that discuss the security of public and private cloud offerings for business critical applications, along with their advantages and disadvantages. However from the perspective of security and reliability Hershey UK promotes the use of the private cloud for their services. What is the difference? Put simply it comes down to control of your data. In the private cloud you have the peace of mind of knowing where your data is, IE which data centre information is being stored in and that it is secure and being managed by a trusted organization that meets all the necessary compliance standards when it comes to handling customer data.

DocuVantage OnDemand, provided by Hershey UK,  have partnered with Opsource to provide this service because they are a tier 4 data centre which is the most stringent level, designed to host mission critical applications, with full failover subsystems guaranteeing 99% uptime. Other security issues are addressed by the OnDemand application itself. For example who should have access to documents and files? What access should they have? Are confidential documents and files secure? These questions are resolved by the built in security that is provided by modern document management systems. Not only that but customised management reporting using either Crystal or Jasper reports can provide audit trails on the history of any given piece of information within the system.

Improved security is one of a number of advantages that are provided by OnDemand document management that are not provided by their physical counterpart. If this is one of your concerns then it is worth while finding out more.

No comments:

Post a Comment