Our organisation works in the Health space and as such we have a legal obligation to keep records on file for 10 years. On the other side of the coin we also have to comply with Privacy legislation that allows clients to 'be forgotten'.
What solution do you know of / recommend for archiving, that would allow us to get records away from end users but still accessible to selected users for legal purposes?
Do you have a preference for a native solution, or a separate one?
And do these solutions generally integrate with back-up functionality or would you keep that separate?
Hi Irene,
The two rules don't really clash. You keep the records the law says you must keep, and you strip out the personal details you are not required to keep. The record stays for legal purposes. The person is no longer findable by name. Your privacy officer can confirm where that line sits for you.
Once that policy is written down, the tool choice gets easier. Three levels, from least to most effort:
- Stay inside Salesforce as it is. Flag old records as archived and use sharing rules so only a few people can see them. No new tools. Plenty of nonprofits stop here.
- Big Objects. Old records move into Salesforce's low cost storage, out of the daily view but still in the system. Needs a developer to build it, and reporting on that data is limited.
- Salesforce Archive. This is Salesforce's own paid add-on. You set the retention rules, it moves the records on a schedule, only people you choose can see them, and it handles "forget me" requests and legal holds. Nothing to build. Pricing comes from your account team, and nonprofit pricing is worth asking about. AppExchange apps like DataArchiva do the same job if you want to compare.
Before choosing, check two numbers: how much storage you are using, and how many records would actually qualify for archive today. If both are small, option 1 will carry you for years.
Backups are a different job. A backup gets data back after a mistake. An archive keeps data out of sight for a long time. Salesforce sells them as two separate products too.
I hope this helps and happy to answer further questions.
Bergin
