Salesforce Data Archive: Know the Best Practices

In a business environment more connected than ever, data continues to grow unabated at a tremendous rate. Possessing unprecedented growth rates of 60% or more, unstructured data can wreak havoc on the storage systems and overall system performance. This data can range from anywhere between office documents, videos, audio files, images to training pdfs. Intelligently storing this data for a long time is critical not only for business intelligence, analysis, and data mining purposes but for compliance and organizational history as well.

Many enterprises using Salesforce eventually run into various data storage limitations due to which they are left with no other alternative rather than purchasing additional Salesforce data storage space. This might not always be economically viable for them and may cause other financial problems. But being Salesforce users, they always have the option to archive the data which can then be used in the future to meet compliance and audit demands as well as run data analytics.

The most convenient way is to fine-comb the massive unstructured datapool to identify the older, stagnant data that can be sporadically archived to a safe and secure storage location for future use. With efficient Salesforce data archival, users stand to reduce their storage costs and enhance their application performance.

Importance of Data Archival

• Exponential data growth results in gradual degradation of the application’s performance and allowing stagnant data to consume primary storage space is not sustainable.
• Archiving data allows organizations to manage their compliance demands, meet regulatory standards (like HIPAA or GDPR), optimize storage systems, and mitigate risks.
• Archiving data also leads to a reduction in data storage costs and makes it more cost-efficient to maintain other data infrastructure
• Data archival helps the daily, weekly, or monthly data backups perform optimally and reduces their costs as well.
• Lastly, archiving gives users more control over their important data.

But a clear and efficient strategy is required before admins think of properly archiving the data. Here we bring to you some of the best practices for effective Salesforce Data Archival.

Properly Organizing Data 

Unstructured Salesforce data tends to be messy– there can be millions and millions of data records that are not necessarily organized in any particular fashion. Therefore before opting for data archival, all data must be well-organized and classified, both internally and externally. This also enhances the ability to retrieve data quickly and easily in case some specific records are required for any future use.

Identifying the Data to be Archived

Once data is properly organized into different categories, the next step is to precisely pick out what records will actually be archived. Always choose data which is stagnant and infrequently accessed first. Don’t forget to consult your company stakeholders as well as internal departments to have a thorough understanding of exactly what data is relevant and for whom.

Ensuring 100% Data Accessibility

One important thing to ensure while archiving Salesforce data is complete accessibility for the archived data. Users must be able to migrate the data whenever and wherever they want, without having to worry about getting it back. There should also be a pre-decided frequency for accessing the data, i.e., users need to identify how frequently they will need to access the archived data when needed.

Intelligently Retaining Data 

A well planned data retention policy is extremely necessary for any Salesforce enterprise. Not all data records need to be preserved forever but it’s always advisable to consult your legal department before deleting any crucial information. Suffice to say, archiving data is not meant to retain data forever but to smartly prune data which is no longer needed, be it for legal, storage, cost, or any other reasons.

Maintaining Data Integrity  

After the actual data archival process takes place, it is very easy to forget about that data since it was stagnant and not in active use. It is best to keep a check on the integrity and relevance of the archived data regularly. If proper attention is not paid, this data could become corrupted and all that effort would go down the drain. Another major threat is that this discrepancy might go unnoticed for a long period of time months in the absence of regular integrity checks.

Enforcing Compliance for Data

Users must also ensure that relevant data compliance and regulations are being adhered to. It’s important for Salesforce users to be aware of the exact compliance directives that govern the industry their company falls under. There is PCI-DSS and GLBA in the financial industry, HACCP for the F & B industry, and the Joint Commission and HIPAA in the healthcare sector. For optimal results, users must ensure that these regulations are being followed right from during the initial phases of the data archival process.

Choosing the Perfect Data Archive Solution

Now when even the rudimentary data backup and archiving services offered by Salesforce are discontinued, it becomes even more necessary to find the exact tool that can successfully archive the data that you actually want. Your selected application must target the kind of data that is to be archived and must also have the ability to retain data for as long as you want. It should also possess the ability to access the archived data without any hassle along with the option to restore it whenever required. This tool must also be cost-effective, agile, efficient, and must offer a seamless user experience.

Also read: Top 4 Salesforce Data Management Best Practices: A Complete Guide for Salesforce Admins

DataArchiva: An Enterprise-grade Data Archive Platform for Salesforce

Now that you have a fair idea about some of the best practices when it comes to archiving the Salesforce data, it’s only reasonable for us to help you in deciding upon the most appropriate archival solution also. We would love to introduce you to a flawless digital solution called DataArchiva.

DataArchiva is a 5-star rated data archival application that will easily archive your unused data intelligently within your preferred external storage system. In this process, it saves more than 85% of your data storage costs as well as secures your data efficiently. The archived data can be easily viewed directly from the Salesforce platform which facilitates the compliance team to search any data at any time. Different relational databases like Redshift, Postgres, Oracle, SQL server and cloud-based systems like Google, Amazon, Heroku, Azure can be integrated with your Salesforce app for seamless archival. Check out the application here.