Digital Dusting

1. Digital Dusting Spring-cleaning for network and hard drives

2. Digital Dust • Digital anarchy • Understanding drives • Let’s talk hard drives • Providing structure to network drives • What’s in a name (folder and file naming) • Digital dusting - Cleaning & maintaining network and hard drives • Driver’s manual Agenda

3. Digital Dust: An invisible electronic matter that shrouds digital files stored on network and hard drives. Digital dust usually targets files that have not been accessed in over two years. It results in electronic clutter, employee frustration, the purchase of additional storage space and increased organizational risks.

4. Electronic information doubling every 18 months Convenience – making it too easy! Folder/file naming Absence of guidance and controls Digital graveyards Lack of understanding of risks Storage cost reductions Out-of-sight-out-of-mind Digital Anarchy

5. Characteristics Limitations • Folder structures • Naming conventions • Duplication • Versioning • Metadata • Searching • Retention management Understanding Drives

6. Folder Structures • Network drives contain folders created to segregate organizational departments or operations located on the same network drive. In most cases, additional subfolders are created under the primary folder to group content of a similar nature. Security settings can be configured to grant or deny access to certain folders or prevent employees from creating new primary or subfolders. Understanding Drives

7. Naming Conventions • If an employee has authorization privileges to create new subfolders, then the network drive does not place any restrictions on the naming convention used to label the folder. Understanding Drives

8. Duplication • Network drives have limited ability to prevent the storing of duplicate files. Network drives can only detect duplication in the event an employee is attempting to save a file using a file name that already exists in the same folder. However, network drives do not prevent files with the same name from being stored in different subfolders. Understanding Drives

9. Versioning • Network drives do not facilitate the automated versioning of files. If a stored file is modified the employee has to reflect the new version by manually renaming the file with a new version number or combination of new version number and date of modification. However, by assigning a new name to the file, the former file still exists unless the employee deletes the former file. Understanding Drives

10. Metadata • Unlike enterprise content management or document management software applications that allow users to create and assign metadata such as multiple keyword values to content, the only metadata an employee can assign to a file in a network drive environment is the file name. Understanding Drives

11. Searching • The absence of additional assigned metadata limits network drive searching capabilities. Network drives allow searching by folder, all or part of the file name, date of file, size of file, phrase or words contained in the file and modification date. Understanding Drives

12. Retention Management • Network drives do not have automated retention management capabilities. Files stored on network drives have to be manually deleted if they no longer need to be retained. Understanding Drives

13. Hard drives • Limitations • When should they be used Let’s Talk Hard Drives

14. Folder structures • One of the primary causes of digital dust is the lack of adequate network drive folder structures. Providing Structure

15. The riveting tale of the huge hanging folder… Providing Structure

16. Folders and subfolders Providing Structure

17. Steps for creating a folder and subfolder structure • Group effort • Major department functions Providing Structure

18. Inefficient folder/subfolder structure Providing Structure

19. Enhanced folder structure Providing Structure

20. Folder and file names – demise or complement MISC. 2013 Resume Non-Hires Naming Conventions

21. Logical naming conventions • Avoid • Acronyms • Abbreviations • Names only you understand • Names only departmental personnel understand Naming Conventions

22. Remember • You are not the only one who made need to access the file! • Legal • Tax • Internal Audit • Compliance Naming Conventions

23. Litmus test • Being able to understand the nature of a file and its contents without having to open it. • If you have to open multiple files in order to find the information you need. Naming Conventions

24. Tips • Retention • Holds Naming Conventions

25. Digital dust bunnies - years of accumulation Digital Dust Bunnies

26. Approach • Manual • Software Digital Dusting

27. Manual approach • File review • Departmental effort • Planning Digital Dusting

28. Tips • Retention schedule review • Orphan files • Holds • Quarantine (for additional review) • Use file review to assess folder structures and naming conventions Digital Dusting

29. System resources Digital Dusting

30. Software • Index & Classification Management (ICM) tools • Crawlers • Continuous monitoring • Configure policy • Duplicates • Near-duplicates • Age of file • Auto-delete • User file review • Reporting Digital Dusting

31. ECM – bringing structure to unstructured information • Pre-configured (static) structure and naming conventions • Enhanced metadata • Duplication controls • Versioning • Enhanced searching • Lifecycle management Saying Goodbye to Drives

32. Thank You! – Q & A Time