CommVault Enables Information Governance in Simpana 9

CommVault is extending the capabilities of its next-generation Simpana 9 software with the introduction of an unified Information Governance platform that reduces the time, cost and risks associated with eDiscovery, compliance, archiving and records management.

This foundation approach simplifies the acquisition of information to create a single view into enterprise information regardless of whether it resides in the physical storage world or the rapidly emerging virtual one. CommVault’s Simpana 9 includes capabilities that simplify information management tasks and consolidate data records.

By centrally managing policies, Simpana software can slash eDiscovery costs and significantly reduce compliance review time. Business efficiencies in information access and retention can also be improved.

Since legacy information management solutions typically lack integration across different application sources and tiers of storage, they fail to manage information over its lifecycle, thus creating unnecessary risk, escalating costs and promoting discrete silos of data that inherently lack the larger information governance ‘picture’. Operational challenges arise when organizational data (e.g., email, attachments, databases, video, audio, instant messaging, etc.) of a similar nature is viewed, stored and managed in isolation with little integration across policies and procedures. Simpana 9’s Information Governance platform delivers solutions to address Retention Lifecycle Management (RLM) including enterprise-wide intelligent search through a purpose built UI; customizable and automated workflow for eDiscovery and Compliance; records classification retention and declaration; as well as privacy related content and subsequent violations alerts.

This announcement reinforces CommVault’s recent Simpana 9 news while underscoring the company’s vision of a better way to manage both enterprise data through a single platform policy driven vision and proactive step-by-step approaches that deliver integrated end-to-end information governance for improved business agility.

Flexible Retention Lifecycle Management
CommVault’s RLM capabilities empower companies to set flexible data retention policies that can be modified easily to respond to changes in business requirements. In stark contrast, altering retention policies with legacy solutions requires complex reconfigurations or forklift upgrades. With Simpana 9, CommVault leverages source and target deduplication to improve archive economics by reducing redundant information at the source by up to 90 percent. This provides more granular, cost-effective preservation, classification and alignment of data to retention policies. CommVault also delivers ‘cradle to grave’ RLM, as all records are collected and managed from a single source across all locations, media and public or private clouds.

Extended Enterprise Search
CommVault Simpana 9 offers an intuitive user interface to expedite simple and advanced information searches for content driven information mining. As a result, the time required to search business critical information can be reduced from hours to seconds, significantly reducing administration costs. The ability to intelligently search, navigate and mine data into unstructured data sets also dramatically improves end-user efficiencies. A query building ‘wizard’ helps construct detailed search queries across a range of common metadata properties of files and emails. Together with more specific search criteria, this streamlines and simplifies complex queries.

Intuitive eDiscovery and Compliance Workflow
With Simpana 9, CommVault has extended its information workflow with intelligence that addresses the needs of business users engaged in eDiscovery or compliance process efforts, slashing IT storage and legal administrative costs. Workflow efficiency is improved by moving information between different users to expedite record review, classification and supervision. Instead of forcing rigid procedures that can impact end user productivity, customizable workflows can map to organizational eDiscovery or records directives to ensure governance objectives are met. Proactive evidence collection ensures that legal holds can be executed consistently on a single automated command and efficiently exported in industry compliant formats to streamline eDiscovery.

Privacy Breach Management
Simpana 9 now provides early warning of privacy issues by identifying information such as the use of Social Security numbers, credit card numbers and a host of other predefined patterns. This pattern-related information can be searched, copied and directed to key individuals for review, action or high-security retention including encrypted and alternate storage management.

Records Declaration
A new archive Application Programming Interface (API) lets customers designate records to be archived, including from SAP ArchiveConnect, to address their long-term storage requirements, thereby boosting operational efficiency, streamlining the lifecycle retention of the records and reducing the overall cost of retention. Business records managed by Simpana 9 software can be automatically moved directly into records management systems, such as Microsoft SharePoint MOSS, for improved collaboration and information sharing. Records can be directed to integrated service and information cloud platforms, including Iron Mountain’s cloud archiving and Microsoft’s Windows Azure, to further reduce storage costs and administrative overhead.

N. Robert Hammer, CommVault’s chairman, president and CEO, said: "The rising tide of information governance means now, more than ever, organizations must unite critical corporate assets under a common foundation for improved management, access and retention. Fortunately, CommVault’s unique and decidedly modern approach to managing data and information from the ground up delivers the ability to see both the big picture and the finer details from a single point of view. With Simpana 9, we provide the essential tools to achieve end-to-end information governance that lowers risk while improving operational efficiencies and business agility."

Sheila Childs, director of storage strategies and technologies for Gartner, said: "Retention Lifecycle Management is a compelling concept that could fulfill the promises made but not fully delivered by ILM because unifying software that brings together business records, regardless of the source, into a singular information foundation from the onset has been hard to find. Being able to leverage a common repository across all data types with added intelligence and automation facilitates the flexible retention of all records based on business needs and governance requirements."

Brian Babineau, senior consulting analyst, Enterprise Strategy Group, said: "Information governance is becoming a front-and-center issue, especially as enterprises seek more cohesive strategies for addressing compliance, eDiscovery and content management requirements. The ability to consolidate data access and management through a single point of control is crucial to providing the level of detail needed to maximize the value of corporate data. Having policy enforcement for industry compliance, records retention and workflow processes in one place enables companies to better leverage all their vital data for a multitude of business purposes."