Who Uses Data Destruction Software?
Data security team: The data security team first needs to determine what data should be perishable from the team that stores the data. Once the usable data is moved into a new drive, the data team should conduct the wipe using the software.
Compliance team: Compliance team consists of data privacy and legal personnel, who should ensure that the data destruction process and software are set up properly to fit the industry standards.
Challenges with Data Destruction Software
Software solutions can come with their own set of challenges.
Low priority: Most businesses that aren’t directly affected by privacy and data security standards will not place data management as a priority, much less data destruction. It might be hard to get buy-in for data destruction software unless the company suffered the consequences of stolen hard drives.
Improper disposal of hard drive and data: Data destruction involves using software destruction and physical destruction depending on the industry. Since data management is still a new practice for most companies, they sometimes don’t properly implement sound data destruction plans. Once a data breach happens because of that, these companies receive large amounts of fines, broken trusts, and bad reputations. The compliance team and data team should emphasize the importance of adhering to privacy and data security regulations and the negative consequences of data breaches. This will incentivize companies to implement proper data management practices.
How to Buy Data Destruction Software
Requirements Gathering (RFI/RFP) for Data Destruction Software
Since data destruction is a part of the DLM process, it is important to plan out a DLM process first if the company doesn’t have one. Many companies that don’t have the talents for data destruction, data privacy management, and compliance management should consider hiring outside talents to properly implement the DLM process. The DLM process needs to comply with the industry standards. Once the DLM planning is done, the compliance team needs to identify how to destruct the data according to their company budget, data management process, industry, and feature requirements. For example, some industry regulations require on-site hardware destruction whereas others have no such requirements.
Prioritizing the desired feature set can help narrow down the potential pool of data destruction solutions, allowing teams to then apply further considerations for budget, ease of integration with other systems, security requirements, and more. This holistic approach empowers buyers to move forward with a focused checklist, which can be used in conjunction with G2 scoring to select the best product for the business.
Compare Data Destruction Software Products
Create a long list
Buyers should start with a large pool of data destruction software vendors. Keeping the desired must-have features in mind, it is important that buyers perform consistent inquiries during demos by which they can effectively compare the pros and cons of each software solution.
Create a short list
It helps to cross-reference the results of initial vendor evaluations with G2 reviews from other buyers, the combination of which will help to narrow in on a short three to five product list. From there, buyers can compare pricing and features to determine the best fit.
Conduct demos
As a rule of thumb, companies should make sure to demo all of the products that end up on their short list. During demos, buyers should ask specific questions related to the functionalities they care most about; for example, one might ask to be walked through a typical data wiping process from planning to recycling the hard drive within the data destruction tool.
Selection of Data Destruction Software
Choose a selection team
Regardless of a company’s size, it’s important to involve the most relevant personas when beginning the data destruction software selection process. Larger companies may include individual team members to fill roles such as compliance manager, data lifecycle manager, lawyers, system owner, and IT professionals who will be working with the software most closely. Smaller companies with fewer employees might overlap roles.
Negotiation
Many companies offer DLM platforms that go beyond data destruction to include data discovery, data quality, and more. While some companies will not budge on the configurations of their packages, buyers looking to trim costs should try to negotiate down to the specific functions that matter to them in order to get the best price. For example, a vendor’s pricing page where data destruction functionality is only included with a robust all-in-one DLM package, whereas a sales conversation may prove otherwise.
Final decision
After this stage, it is important to perform a trial run if possible with the selection team. This will help to ensure that the data destruction software of choice integrates well with the system setup and day-to-day work. If the data destruction tool is easy to use and fits the compliance standards, the buyer can take that as a sign that their selection is the right one. If not, reevaluation of the options may be necessary.
