Dr. Michael Berger
President, DocuWare Group
Organizations that want to take serious measures on document safety should ask very specific questions about document management. As president of a document management solutions provider, my team expects and encourages questions.
Here are the top ones every manager should ask, and the optimal responses they should receive on workplace data security and safety, according to Dr. Michael Berger, President, DocuWare Group:
Are we protected against security breaches from within and from external hacking?
You are on the right track if your solution implements steps for correct user authentication through individual username and password systems; restricts access rights for groups and individuals based on their roles within the company; and protects data authenticity by using document management software that can log document changes, allowing users to create a complete audit trail to manage active and past versions of the document.
Can we recover our information in case of a natural disaster?
Any document management software, whether in the cloud or on-premises, should have at least two layers of storage redundancy. In addition, a third layer of geographically segregated redundancy protects against natural disasters. Your solution provider should also offer 24/7 support.
Can we defend ourselves from data mismanagement?
In addition to controlled access, if documents are encrypted with a key no less than 256 bits long, they are safe. AES (256 bits) is military-grade encryption and is the current standard of the U.S. government for classified documents that must be prepared for future attacks from quantum computers.
Does the document management software have a process for maintaining retention periods for sensitive information?
Certain types of documents must be kept within an organization for a legally mandated number of years before deletion is allowed. Your document management system should provide the workflow tools to enact protection or destruction at predetermined times.
