Data Classification Tips
Businesses and governments are in possession of more data than ever before. One of the things separating which organizations are performing more efficiently than others is their use of this data. When you think about where you work, if you need a critical piece of data, is it easy to find, or is there a complicated path of folders to navigate?
This data needs to be classified properly to be able to make it useful for your work. Below are some tips to get your data classification project off the ground.
Objective
Complete data classification is an ambitious goal for any size of organization, but budget restrictions and practicality concerns make this unrealistic. It’s important then, for groups to have a clear and stated objective with their data classification process. Not only does this allow for what is probably a much needed look at data objectives, but it creates a central purpose that both management and end-users alike can buy into.
The Right Data
Once you have your objective laid out, it’s important to consider whether the data you’re using is productive toward meeting that goal. When dealing with data, there will always be a certain amount of noise. A good deal of data may be redundant, exist as an exact duplicate, or just be completely irrelevant, such as pieces of personal information.
Data Audit
You don’t know what you don’t know. That’s why it’s important to get a detailed look into exactly what you’re storing. A data audit can give you a view into the prevailing themes present in your information along with semantics and types of data.
The Future
Once you’ve actually designed your data classification system, you can’t just set it and forget it. Organizations should also implement a process to regularly review and make changes to the structure, paying particular attention to insights that come from those using the system on a daily basis.
At Extract, we know the importance of having your data be accurate, timely, and in the place you need it. This is why, when we extract and redact data, we target what you specifically need in your documents, even if they’re unstructured.
If you’d like to learn more about how we do this, reach out today and we’d be happy to provide you with additional information or schedule a demo.
