Internet-based storage has traditionally been the domain of
smaller start-ups or directly associated with targeted services (e.g. photo
sharing, online backup, etc.). But it's now drawing the interest of larger
companies as well, most notably Microsoft, which has public betas under way for
two interesting services. 
One major hurdle to business acceptance of such services is, of
course, the degree of willingness to store corporate data externally. There is
already some precedence for this in the growing adoption of SaaS-based
applications, where data is housed externally, often in common databases.
Another more unusual, but apparently effective, example of Internet storage
usage is 
So, how does a generic file storage service differ from these
other models? The unstructured, multipurpose nature of file data inherently
provokes more concerns about security. Already, there are significant corporate
concerns about data leakage via physical devices (such as USB drives and iPods),
as well as through online methods (such as private e-mail accounts). A Web-based
document folder where a user can drag and drop pretty much any file is subject
to far less control than, say, interacting with and storing data through a
SaaS-based application. The lack of centralized policy management and monitoring
for Internet-based storage becomes a major inhibitor.
At its core, this issue reflects a fundamental shortcoming of the
traditional file-server model. Corporate file servers ultimately become
repositories (or perhaps receptacles) for all sorts of data, both high-value and
low. Data classification assessments have regularly demonstrated that a
surprising amount of sensitive information can unexpectedly turn up in all sorts
of places within shared file directories. The fact that this information is
buried in a server within corporate boundaries is one thing, but sitting
somewhere out in cyberspace is quite another.
After the
fires the cellular network in Southern California was flooded. The same think occurred in Northern
California after a minor earthquake last week. With so much dependence on the land
based cellular network are enterprises at risk because they assume the network
will be there and will be working. Some enterprises are assuming the land based network will not be there and are starting to look at more expensive satellite based phones. There are no blind spots and the service is always there. The issues are size of instruments and cost of operation.
The 
Iron Mountain Incorporated, the global leader in information
protection and storage services, announced the signing of a definitive agreement
to acquire Stratify, Inc. for approximately $158 million in cash. Stratify, a
leader in advanced electronic discovery services for the legal market, offers
in-depth discovery and data investigation solutions for AmLaw 200 law firms and
leading Fortune 500 corporations. With this acquisition, Iron Mountain augments
its suite of eDiscovery services, providing businesses with a complete,
end-to-end Discovery Services solution that efficiently manages paper and
digital information for discovery and data investigations, compliance and
associated records management, and litigation matters.
As the risks and volume of litigation and regulatory
investigations continue to grow, so do the complexities associated with managing
the exponential growth of information. In acquiring Stratify, Iron Mountain
expands its core data protection and management capabilities by integrating
Stratify's advanced service offerings that address discovery issues for both
paper and digital records. The acquisition enables Iron Mountain to directly
help businesses minimize the risks of eDiscovery by simplifying the electronic
discovery process to facilitate a secure chain of custody, increasing the
accuracy and consistency of review, and enabling attorneys to easily identify
and protect privileged documents during review.
As a division of Iron Mountain Digital, Stratify will continue
to provide its market-leading electronic discovery services and software to
AmLaw 200, Fortune 500 and other firms for investigative, regulatory and
litigation matters, augmented by Iron Mountain's scale and distribution. In
addition, Iron Mountain customers will now be able to maximize their investment
in Iron Mountain Digital's storage and data protection solutions by leveraging
the capabilities of Stratify's solution integrated as a value-added
service.
Disasters are not just big events. A disaster can be an intermittent
failure that continues over a several days, weeks, and even months which costs
the enterprise in many ways including: