Data Management for your JD Edwards Data

Does your organization have a Data Retention Policy
for your JD Edwards ERP?

Introduction

In this article we look at the subject of Data Retention, in particular we explore key considerations and questions to ask when developing a Data Retention Policy.

There are some references to the Purge-it data archiving and data purging solution in relation to Data Retention.

What is a Data Retention Policy?

Let's get started with a definition.

• A structured and effective Data Retention Policy (DRP) will define what legally needs to be kept by an organization.
• The DRP will clarify the who, what, where, when, why and how of archiving and purging.
• The DRP should provide a structured management framework for Information Life-Cycle Management (ILM) *
  * NB this links to TechTarget.com an external site.

4 main purposes of a Data Retention Policy

1. Assures maintenance of the records and information that an organization must keep to meet operational or regulatory requirements
2. Ensures timely and efficient disposal of records and information that are not needed or should not be maintained
3. Minimizes the amount of data to be maintained by the IT department
4. Optimizes the processing speed of the source system for the business users.

Why your organization needs a Data Retention Policy

The first reason is to ensure that the business complies with all necessary statutory obligations, regarding the retention and disposal of data.

Some common obligations with storing and maintaining data include:

• Accountability
• Identifying purpose
• Consent
• Limiting collection
• Limiting use, disclosure and retention
• Accuracy
• Safeguards
• Openness
• Individual access
• Compliance

Some local and national governments (and other organizations) have specific clauses in their contractual agreements, detailing what documents and data should be stored, and how long for.  This gives a clear instruction that if you are dealing with these organizations, a definite amount of data should be available, if requested.  That data does not have to be in a live environment, or even an on-line environment, but it should be reasonably accessible.

The second reason is to ensure that any records stored within the JD Edwards system are disposed of in a timely manner.  If the records are not needed for operational or legal purposes, then they should be disposed of, to reduce risk and exposure liability.

The third and fourth reasons are to reduce the amount of data managed by the IT department, and to increase the performance of the JD Edwards database / application.

The final reason for the Data Retention Policy, is the existence of the policy itself, to provide the structure and controls that surround the process.

12 questions to ask when developing a Data Retention Policy

1. Who should be involved in the archiving and purging of the JD Edwards ERP system?
2. What is the purpose of the DRP, both from an operational and legal perspective?
3. How does the DRP tie into the broader framework of data retention within the organization?
4. What are the implications of inaction?
5. Which JD Edwards modules and tables are to be archived?
6. How much data will be held in the live environment and in the archive?
7. When should the JD Edwards data be purged (completely removed)?
8. Who in the organization should be involved in these decisions and processes? Eg. Data Owners, Storage Managers?
9. Where will the archived data be located? Consider the database details and JD Edwards ie. the archive environments
10. How often will the archive and purge routines be run? Consider defining the automation of this process.
    Archive automation can save time and resource by removing the need for manual intervention in the data archiving process.
11. How will you address auditing as part of your data archiving and data purging process? Auditing is a crucial consideration for compliance purposes.
    The Purge-it data archiving solution provides a full audit trail of archived data and exceptions. 
12. How often will you review the Data Retention Policy so that changes can be made as needed?

 How much data should you keep?

3 key considerations:

1. The amount of data to keep in your live JD Edwards system
2. The amount of data to keep in your archive JD Edwards system
3. How old that data has to be before it is destroyed (purged) from your JD Edwards system

These 3 points need to be discussed and agreed with the Business Data Owners and with the IT department.

It’s worth noting that there’s no requirement for an organization keep all of its records and information indefinitely.  Instead, once an organisation no longer needs a record to meet either operational or legal requirements, then the organization is free to dispose of that record or piece of information.

Why invest time in developing a Data Retention Policy for your organization?

This may not be considered the highest priority project in your organization or the most dynamic task.  However, when you stop to consider the potential risk and damage to your organization and its brand of a data breach, it soon becomes clear why you should develop an effective policy for the retention and disposal of your JD Edwards data.