It seems like everything is online these days. And sure, you may be thinking “I am a sustainability consultant, what do I know about data management?” The answer is: probably not enough.
While a lot of good comes from “the cloud,” there are a number of factors we need to address as business consultants. You have a responsibility to protect your client’s data, your own materials, and also the best way to advise your clients to take their social responsibility to protect their business, employees and customers, too.
Most of us are working with a content management program to help manage workflow. It’s easy! Everyone on the team can get into the same projects! As the number of platforms expands, so too does our need to protect the information that we store in those platforms.
Questions to consider about data management:
· Do you always know where your content and data are?
· Do you know where data is being stored processed?
· Is it secure/encrypted in-flight?
· Who handles it?
· Is it copied, shared, stored, archived?
· Are your chosen third-party services available locally?
· Do you have contract terms about data location?
It’s time we revisit our cloud practices, making sure we know where our content and data are going and where everything is being processed.
If you aren’t thinking about these issues and how they impact your business and your client’s data, you aren’t alone.
But you can take steps to improve the issues.
Platform ecosystems are ever evolving and if this area seems outside your realm of expertise, perhaps you should look to another consultant who can help you get a better handle being able to answer these questions for your own business, and help clients develop sustainable data-management policies.
You aren’t alone in this complex world, but don’t wait until your data — or your client’s data — is compromised before you get a handle on it.