Posted by Mark Middleton on Wed, Jan 25, 2012
With cloud and social media use gaining steam in corporations world wide, new information governance and e-discovery concerns have come to light.
Reading this press release from the eDJ Group, posted on YAHOO! Finance, it's easy to see why.
According to the eDJ, of the companies they researched, "< 16% of respondents put an e-discovery plan into place before moving data into the cloud." That's a very small percentage addressing critical issues of e-discovery and information governance in the cloud, with a majority of companies ignoring these issues or giving them low priority.
So let's assume your company moves your data to the cloud without developing an e-discovery, information governance, and for that matter, a web archiving policy. Data loss happens. And, what of proposed legislation like SOPA and PIPA being pushed to pass? By not developing a comprehensive web and social media archiving policy, which serves both e-discovery and information governance (among other needs), you're exposing your web data to multiple vulnerabilities. Given the web's continuous evolution, this is not the situation you want your company to be in.
Our newest white papers goes into more detail about information management and the necessity to capture and preserve your web presence in native format. I invite you to download it here.
One final note: In the eDJ press release, they recommend being prepared with e-discovery and information governance policies in order to manage cloud and social media use challenges. I agree. When dealing with data, it's never a good idea to get lost in the clouds.
Posted by Mark Williamson on Wed, Jan 18, 2012
At the beginning of this year, Forbes posted an interesting article online titled: "The $100 Billion Problem No One is Talking About." It's written by Kevin West, CEO K logix, and addresses the extreme cost of data loss to the United States—numbering into the hundreds of billions by 2018.
While West's main objective is to highlight the need for heightened vigilance in the data security sector, being an archivist, I think of the additional (and at times hidden) costs of data loss.
When Mark and I launched Hanzo Archives, it was largely in response to solving the issue of online data loss. Not to belabor the point but, as we've stated before, the Internet has no inherent memory. We've already lost more content than many great libraries contain. Perhaps not as valuable content, but who knows? Afterall, I was once reminded that Dickens was first published in the penny dreadfuls.
So yes, in addition to security concerns, data loss is also a big problem for the enterprise. The web has become the easiest way to communicate with your colleagues and customers. There is such a diversity of tools, the barriers to entry are low (anyone can publish a website in half and hour, grab Wordpress or something similar and off you go.)
With that being said, web archiving is the "one size fits all" way to approach data loss.
It's the simplest way to record all the weird and wonderful diversity that makes your employees jobs easier and more efficient—especially for information management, audits, regulatory compliance and the like. This also means that data security and web archiving together provide a complete business solution—one that does need more attention, but more importantly, action.
Posted by Mark Middleton on Fri, Jan 06, 2012
As members of the International Internet Preservation Consortium (IIPC), Hanzo Archives is pleased to remind doctoral students of the organisation's grant for funding a 3-year, web archiving doctoral support award.The application deadline is February 15, 2012 with the award announcement taking place on April 1, 2012.
The recipient of this award will study within the University of North Texas College of Information on the specific academic track of current and future web archiving technology and use under the university's Interdisciplinary Information Science Ph.D. Program.
As web archivists, we at Hanzo are excited to see this recognition of web archiving as a viable component in the study of information science on a doctoral level. With the Internet's inherent lack of memory, we feel it's crucial for anyone conducting business on the web to recognize its value as a resource. It's why we founded Hanzo in the first place.
Needless to say, we look forward to reaping the contributions this program makes to the web archiving industry and Consortium at large.
Details about the program, admission requirements, and how to apply may be found here on the IIPC website.
Posted by Christienne Miller on Thu, Dec 22, 2011
Image from Comic Attack.Net
As the image says, Hanzo Archives demands you have a Merry Christmas (and holiday season for that matter)...or else.
2011 has been a surprising year, as we all can attest. In the world of web archiving, Hanzo has seen many changes (and a steady increase) in our clients' needs in terms of e-discovery, meeting regulatory mandates, and managing compliance audits.
Looking to Q1 of 2012, we expect more of the same, which further serves to drive our innovation. But first, all of us are looking forward to slowing down a bit. While our archiving technology continues to crawl and capture, we'll be spending some much-needed time with family and friends. We invite you to do the same.
Thank you again for your interest and business with Hanzo Archives. Cheers until next year. We all look forward to serving your web archiving needs in 2012.
Posted by Mark Williamson on Thu, Dec 08, 2011
As the original technology of enterprise communication, it's almost unreal to think that email is quickly becoming obsolete.This year marked the 40th anniversary since the first email was sent, and predictions have been flying that the rise of the social enterprise threatens to tamp its use out of existence.
For those in disbelief, I invite you to read this article on Gigaom Email in the enterprise: 
entering its twighlight at 40? by Miguel Valdes Faura, CEO and co-founder of BonitaSoft. In it, Faura reports that Atos Origin taking the next three years to transform into a "zero email company." Atos CEO, Thierry Breton believes that email contributes to "information polution," which interferes with management's workflow.
Faura's article is a good read with interesting comments. Most of them support continued email use, except for one, which mentioned the nightmare role emails play in situations of e-discovery. Someone who has heard of website archiving and social media archiving, perhaps?
My thoughts on email are: I'm watching what kids and young adults are doing. They're the wave of the next workforce after all, and their communications consist of tweets, instant messaging and Facebook. Using these networks they participate in conversations as a stream of updates. Eventually, they will step into the workforce with a completely different world view. While I do think email will hang around, it will be reduced to a smaller role, and in some cases I see it being replaced altogether, especially for workflow (e.g. business process automation, CRM, etc.), which will benefit from actionable content and social technologies such as, in our case, Jira and Chatter.
And, for those who argue about tracking and the security of social enterprise use, cloud collaborations, and intranets, I invite you to join our social media archiving Webinar today: December 8, at 9:00 a.m. PST.
Posted by Christienne Miller on Wed, Dec 07, 2011
As I read through this article Losers Pay Electronic Discovery Costs in Several More Cases - This is a Trend Worth Watching on Jeffery Parkhurst's blog, I was a bit shocked at the e-discovery costs submitted for reimbursement in some of the cases: $530,000.00 - $575,000.00.
A portion of this cost was for computer technicians who had to convert electronically stored data into usable formats. Another associated cost was for the project management of the data collected.
Parkhurst's post also points out the courts are beginning to specify what e-discovery expenses are permitted for reimbursement.
Could you imagine paying more than half a million dollars on top of other litigation costs if you loose your case? What about paying the expense of e-discovery costs prior to going to court?
Thus, as e-discovery requests continue to evolve, so do the costs for both litigants. Hanzo touches on this briefly in our free white paper on enterprise web archiving. The white paper also outlines the types of web archiving solutions that not only enable you to present your data in native format for e-discovery requests, but eliminate costs associated with restoring data to acceptable formats for the courts.
E-discovery is just one example of why web archiving is essential to every business. To go more in depth on this topic and see a live client archive in action, please join us for our complimentary Webinar on December 15, at 9:00 a.m. PST.
Posted by Christienne Miller on Fri, Dec 02, 2011
Major events are taking place at Hanzo right now. You know that surge you get when everything falls into place, making way for new innovations and expansion? It's like that around here, yeah.
Though I can't discuss some details openly quite yet, one bit of news is the launch of our Learning Center. 
Our first chapter is an introduction to web and social media archiving. This presentation illustrates everything from the definition of web content (technically and in terms of compliance) to how your content is archived and why it's essential to your business.
In future chapters, we plan to zero in on use cases and address issues faced by the industries and organizations we serve. With regulatory agencies continuing to refine their stance on the preservation and presentation of web content, Hanzo stands at the center of the solution engine. In otherwords, we'll show you useful ways in which you can stay compliant, quickly answer e-discovery requests, and preserve brand heritage.
In addition to the Learning Center launch, we have two free webinars you are welcomed to attend this month. The first is on December 8 at 9:00 a.m. PST, and focuses on social media archiving for the social enterprise, and the second is our standard "how to" on web archiving for compliance on December 15 at 9:00 a.m. PST. Select either date (or both) to register and we'll "see" you then.
As to what else is going on, well you'll just have to check back in with us, subscribe to our blog, or join our mailing list to find out.
Posted by Mark Middleton on Wed, Nov 30, 2011
'Tis the season to wrap up 2011 and prepare for a strong kick-off to 2012.
The future forecast, considering global financial markets continue to crest and dive, demands clear communication throughout the marketplace--from governments to businesses, businesses to businesses and businesses to consumers.
Case in point
Whether it be lack of staff or lax information management protocols, operational and legal web content continues to create costly challenges across all industries.
E-discovery requests and proof of authenticity regarding online content is more specific than ever before. Inconsistencies in terms and conditions, terms of use, contest rules and regulations, and advertising campaigns published on multiple company and affiliate websites result in both financial loss and varying levels of brand damage.
Take for instance, the insurance giant who purchased another insurance provider. In doing so, the terms and conditions of their insurance policies changed. What was published on the company's website differed from what their claims and legal departments understood to be the actual terms and conditions. This caused the insurance company to enforce a misnomer about their terms and conditions and denied a family's claim. I was interviewed regarding this instance and demonstrated how web archives could be (and ultimately were) used to "solve" the mystery of the applicable terms.
- A husband and wife decide to purchase insurance policies for the main purpose of protecting each other and their children, should either of them need critical care.
- Their youngest child is suddenly diagnosed with a cancerous brain tumor, well after the parents' policies are active.
- While visiting her ill child in the hospital, she finds out from another parent that her own insurance policy covers care for her sick child as well.
- The wife goes home and asks her husband to check their policy and, according to the terms and conditions the insurance company has published online, they discover their sick child is indeed supposed to be covered under their policy at no additional cost.
- The husband calls to make a claim and is told that, at the time they signed their policy, children were not covered. Distressing news since the family were not only facing the worry for their child's health, but also the costs of getting him the best care and supporting their family through this difficult experience.
- Having had their original claim denied, the husband feels that--since they pay their policy monthly and the terms and conditions on the insurance company's website should apply to their current policy--their claim is valid.
- The husband reaches out to a well-known investigative TV reporter and consumer advocate. He does some digging to discover that, due to a processing delay, the day the couple's policies took effect, the terms and conditions of the company did include children's critical care at no extra cost. This story was broadcast to millions of viewers.
- Eventually, the insurance company approves the couple's claim, but not without sustaining severe damage to their brand reputation.
- If this insurance company had native format web archives, they could have accessed their content archive to discover that the family was in the right and avoided brand damage.
This is just one of many "whys" surrounding the need for archived web and social media content. As for the "hows", Hanzo Archives has a free webinar you can attend to learn more. We actually have two for December. Just register for either or both at the corresponding links below, or contact us directly to discuss your specific needs.
December 8, 2011 - 9:00 a.m. PST: Social Media Archiving for the Social Enterprise
December 15, 2011 - 9:00 a.m. PST: How To Archive Websites and Social Media for Compliance
Posted by Mark Middleton on Tue, Nov 15, 2011
A recent client request regarding the archiving of mobile websites inspired this post to explain why mobile website archiving is crucial for every business.
We all understand that companies create mobile websites in order to optimize the way their content is viewed on a smaller screen (such as an iPhone, iPad, or other mobile device). This may simply mean re-arranging website content, or something more drastic, such as using animated GIFs instead of Flash, or even the creation of specialised microsites specifically for use with mobile devices.
A quick sidenote: Flash has never worked well on mobile devices. So it's no surprise Adobe has thrown in the towel on its Flash mobile player. Regardless, Adobe's move further supports the need for companies with dynamic content / media to create two separate websites (one standard and one for mobile). This creates a new issue: two websites from the same company, but with very different user experiences.
Taking all of this into consideration, here's a hypothetical use case for why a company would want to capture archives for its mobile website, as part of a comprehensive web archiving policy:
- Let's suppose your product, promotion, or service has an advisory of use that exists in a Flash presentation on your company's native website.
- Because Flash fails to deliver content properly on mobile devices, and there also may be legibility issues of "fine print" on those devices, your customer is unable to view properly, or indeed at all, on their mobile. But what if some of this content is mandatory (financial services, pharmaceutical, etc.)?
- Your customer sues your company for misinformation and negligence, with the opposing counsel's argument being that your customer didn't see content essential to purchase and/or use of your product.
While using Hanzo web archiving solutions for your website and social media content supplies proof of user experience for e-discovery, unless you capture your mobile websites separately, that proof doesn't exist in the mobile context, which may be materially different. There's also the issue of playback.
At this point, I'm guessing you'd like to discuss mobile website archiving further. The best way to do that would be for us to connect and schedule a demo. It will give you a first-hand experience of how your mobile website archives work and provide you with the opportunity to ask questions. Let's talk soon.
Posted by Christienne Miller on Thu, Nov 10, 2011
Yesterday, I attended a Webinar addressing the Corporate Counsel audience. The content focused on social media use and why a social media policy is essential for compliance and brand image management. This is something we've written about before (Social media policy for business: Where's yours?).
Having used social media for a number of clients throughout my recent career, I'm still surprised at the lack of social media policies in companies across all industries. What's even more surprising? The lack of knowledge of social media archiving.
This is a big reason regulated companies miss out on using the power of social media. While other companies promote their products and services and protect their brand reputations through social media content, e-discovery, compliance audits (and the like) keep companies from pharma to financial away from it.
But, as I found out in the Webinar yesterday, regulated companies don't know there's a way they can participate; by archiving their social media content.
The reason this works is because social media archives support compliance. They prove social media compliance by providing auditors with easy access to date-stamped, forensically sound, native format social media content. Format obsolescence isn't a factor because each archive is a complete capture. This means that the archive contains all of the data necessary to "play back" the social media content in exactly the same context as it would have been viewed on the day of its capture: five, ten, fifteen years from now.
There are also numerous other uses for social media archives (best left for a future conversation); marketing analysis, corporate heritage, and employee training.
Amazing: yes. Useful: yes. Essential: yes. The only issue I see right now is spreading the word.
So, join us for our next free Webinar and invite your colleagues. Or, for a one-on-one demo, contact us.
Now there's even more for you to gain by using social media to expand your business. So, what are you waiting for?
