Cloud Infrastructure Basics
Most organizations today face data chaos: silos across SaaS, multicloud, and on-premises systems, unclassified unstructured data, and unclear retention policies. Traditional storage management tools can’t keep up.
That’s where Data Storage Management Services (DSMS) come in. According to Gartner, DSMS solutions deliver unified, metadata-rich visibility into enterprise data—turning storage from a passive container into an intelligent, governed asset.
But not all DSMS solutions are equal. CIOs, compliance officers, and IT leaders should demand these mandatory features when evaluating platforms.
Every DSMS must provide metadata-driven classification—organizing data based on attributes like author, creation date, department, and file type.
Why it matters: Metadata tagging is the foundation for policy enforcement, analytics readiness, and ROT (redundant, obsolete, trivial) data cleanup. Without classification, governance is impossible.
A DSMS should scan file data wherever it resides—file shares, object storage, SaaS apps like Microsoft 365, or structured databases.
Why it matters: Enterprise data is scattered. If your DSMS can’t see across hybrid and SaaS environments, blind spots will lead to compliance gaps and inefficiency.
Mandatory DSMS platforms must automate retention, archiving, migration, and defensible deletion.
Why it matters: Manual governance doesn’t scale. Automated life cycle enforcement reduces storage costs, legal exposure, and compliance risks.
The ability to generate detailed reports on classification and storage usage is non-negotiable.
Why it matters: Visibility drives decision-making. Reports empower IT, compliance, and finance teams to track cost drivers, enforce governance, and plan capacity.
DSMS must offer a common administrative interface with role-based access controls.
Why it matters: Data ownership is distributed. Role-based access ensures business units, compliance officers, and IT all have appropriate authority without creating bottlenecks.
The system should log every DSMS action on data, maintaining a detailed record of classification, retention, and deletion events.
Why it matters: In regulated industries, defensible audit trails are critical for GDPR, CPRA, HIPAA, and SOX compliance. Audit logs also support forensic investigations.
While the six features above are mandatory, leading DSMS vendors go further by:
These extras can be the difference between a tactical tool and a strategic enterprise platform.
Mandatory DSMS features are not “nice to have”—they are table stakes for organizations that want to optimize costs, enforce governance, and prepare for AI-driven analytics.
As enterprises triple their unstructured data capacity by 2029, the only way to stay ahead is to demand platforms that combine classification, automation, governance, and reporting as a baseline.
With the right DSMS, storage shifts from a liability to a competitive advantage.
