Selecting a cloud archiving provider
Choosing a provider should be based on a blend of compliance needs, technical fit, costs, and long-term strategy. A structured evaluation helps ensure the service meets both current and future requirements.
Consider these criteria:
- Compliance and certifications: SOC 2, ISO 27001, GDPR, or industry-specific standards.
- Data residency and sovereignty controls.
- Retention features: policy automation, legal holds, and immutability.
- Search and eDiscovery capabilities, including metadata preservation.
- Security: encryption at rest and in transit, key management options.
- Cost model: storage, retrieval, API requests, and egress fees.
- Integration: connectors for email, collaboration tools, and file systems.
- Portability: ability to export data in standard formats for vendor exit.
- SLAs for durability, availability, and support responsiveness.
Run a proof-of-concept with real data classes to evaluate performance and retrieval behavior. Talk to references in similar industries to confirm the provider’s track record. Document a migration and exit plan before committing to minimize future risk.