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In the data they keep, credit unions can find abundant information to help improve the member experience as well as internal operations. Since data is so important (and regulators are paying attention to cybersecurity), it’s worth making sure your data storage systems are in order. Technology is constantly evolving, forcing credit unions to take a hard look at their current configurations and explore new options.
Here are some key things to consider:
1. Storage as a service. Storage as a service works kind of like renting a photocopier. The credit union rents storage hardware and software that is owned by the service provider, but housed at the credit union’s location. If there’s a problem, the credit union calls the provider for assistance.
This model can have broad appeal for credit unions because it can reduce investments in storage infrastructure and management costs. In this model, service providers supply servers, software licenses and support, reducing demands on staff and the need for a large internal IT staff to support storage.
Credit unions are often reluctant to give up control of their data. Storage as a service models respond to this by allowing easy access to stored data on servers housed on site. This is a key difference from the cloud model, in which the credit union’s data is stored off site.
Storage technology is constantly evolving. Working with a company that buys often and in large quantity can help CUs use the current best-of-breed storage options for a good price.
2. Deduplication. Deduplication solutions identify unique data segments, compare them with data stored previously, and save only unique data. With automatic backups, the same information can be saved continuously, utilizing precious storage space. The process results in saving only unique data, usually in a compressed format.
While deduplication reduces storage requirements by eliminating redundant information, it also improves processing speed by decreasing server workloads. Recovering data quickly is important in case of an audit, or other time-sensitive situations that require a credit union to retrieve certain information, such as discovery for a lawsuit.
Additionally, eliminating data redundancy can reduce the amount of data a credit union has to manage and, in keeping with that, the costs of doing so. It can be economical for credit unions to implement deduplication software rather than scale up data storage systems.
3. Storage area network. Storage area network protocol defines a secure high-speed data transfer network that makes a network of storage devices accessible to multiple servers. SAN devices appear to servers as attached drives, eliminating traditional network bottlenecks.
A SAN offers increased storage performance, accessibility and improved network application efficiency. The protocol was designed specifically for storage environments.
4. Data security. It seems like new security technologies enter the marketplace and, shortly thereafter, hackers manage to find a way to gain access to valuable information.
A basic level of security that all credit unions should have is encryption, the mathematical calculations and algorithmic schemes that transform data into an unreadable format for unauthorized users.
However, gone are the days of relying solely on encryption. Hackers are using sophisticated methods to break cryptography and enter networks; multiple layers of defense must be implemented.
For example, proper backups are important to securing data. Many credit unions back up data daily without ensuring everything is in proper order. Peace of mind does not come from backing up data; it comes from confirming periodically that your backups are actually storing away quality data for when you need it. (That’s the subject of another article entirely.) You want peace of mind that when your system fails, you can easily recover important information that impacts your daily operations.
5. Monitoring. Although most storage systems are redundant—protecting data from potential system failures—credit unions often neglect to monitor storage system health. Once a data storage system is in place, constant system failure monitoring must be performed.
In addition, capacity monitoring is vital to all credit unions, especially to those that perform day-to-day backups. With capacity monitoring, a trend analysis is performed prior to implementing a storage system to determine the amount of storage required. If the storage system is not being monitored, capacity could be reached, and it may not be possible to make the daily backup. Capacity monitoring is also important to help point to future storage needs.
Continuous advancements are being made in data storage – and will continue to be made through 2016 and beyond. Make sure your data storage configuration is advancing as technology improves.
Change is difficult, even to the savviest credit unions. Once a system is in place, and it works—why disrupt a good thing? The answer is that outdated systems cause inefficiencies, and inefficiencies work against the bottom line.
Chris Bremer is chief technology officer of Dynamic Solutions International, a Denver-based data storage company specializing in providing complete storage solutions to highly regulated environments.
