Enterprise Data Protection Maturity Assessment

This article, published on October 27, 2022, was written by Jerome M. Wendt, president and founder, DCIG, LLC.

Almost all enterprises deploy backup, recovery, BC, DR, and perhaps data governance technologies and processes within their IT environment. However, as ransomware attacks illustrate, deploying these data protection technologies and processes do not automatically equate to a safe environment.

Too many enterprises deploy these technologies and processes thinking they can now withstand a cyberattack attack. Only after a ransomware attack occurs do they find these technologies and processes fail them at the most critical moment. To avoid this, enterprises must objectively assess the effectiveness of their existing data protection infrastructure. To help, Cobalt Iron and DCIG have partnered to create a free survey that assesses their data protection maturity.

Need to measure up on enterprise data protection
Enterprises want and may need to know how they measure up in critical areas of their business operations. These measurements inform them both where they can stand pat and where they need to make changes. Just as importantly, these assessments help them avoid budgetary or operational surprises by pre-emptively identifying existing gaps.

In that vein, ransomware has probably delivered more nasty surprises to more enterprises than any recent threat, cyber or otherwise. Bad actors constantly refine ransomware to exploit known weaknesses in current data protection schemes before initiating attacks.

Ransomware’s constant evolution makes it a necessity that organizations stay diligent in managing their data protection. While deploying the latest technologies helps, improperly implementing or managing them inevitably leaves gaps. These gaps leave the door open for ransomware to compromise whatever data protection technologies and processes an enterprise has in place.

Known thyself
Closing these gaps in any enterprise data protection deployment begins by first identifying and knowing where they exist. To assist in this evaluation, Cobalt Iron and DCIG have partnered to create a survey that helps enterprise assess the maturity of their data protection environment.

This survey does not ask questions about if an enterprise has deployed specific data protection technologies and processes. By now, most enterprises have done so. Rather, it quizzes enterprises on how they have matured to utilize and manage them.

This short survey breaks the questions up into 3 broad categories:
• Backup and recovery
• BC and DR
• Data governance

The questions inquire about variables in one’s data protection environment that most IT administrators and managers can answer quickly and with relative ease.

However, do not let the ease of the questions and brevity of the survey belie the survey’s value. The answers to each question provide critical insight into how well an enterprise utilizes its data protection technologies and processes.

The result does more than let individuals know how well their enterprise scores. It compares each company to other enterprises of comparable size. This result informs each enterprise how well it stands and how it does in comparison to its peers. It even provides practical steps each enterprise can take to better protect its IT environment.

Take nice enterprise data protection assessment
Enterprises may have all the data protection technologies and processes they need. They may even utilize them and feel pretty good about the protection of the data in their IT environment.

However, enterprises must still take the time to evaluate their IT infrastructure to see how it measures up. Because if they do not, bad actors may already be in their IT environment maliciously doing it for them. These bad actors do not provide a nice score. Instead, they may just shut you down and charge you for the privilege of doing so.