Information governance and records retention are pressing challenges for every organization. No matter what industry sector you are in or how large your enterprise is, regulatory compliance, data privacy and intelligent information management are C-suite concerns for all organizations. This is especially true for companies in information-intensive fields such as banking and financial services, pharma, and healthcare.

At the same time, organizations must also be able to preserve and present information when relevant for litigation and audit. Non-compliance or an inability to produce the requested materials in a timely manner could result in hefty fines and costly discovery fees. This is not to mention the amount of effort and investment required during an eDiscovery process to search for all related data across the enterprise.

If that wasn’t enough, data breaches and cyber-theft are at an all-time high. It seems as if there is another massive data breach every week. Experts tell us that it’s not a matter of if, but of when, your organization will suffer a breach. As a result, organizations are being compelled to take a hard look at their information stores and often reevaluate their retention policies to ensure they are using the latest best practices to protect the privacy and integrity of their data.

How can you gain control? We are proud to announce the release of Versatile Retention Software-as-a-Service, also known as VR SaaS, a complete retention schedule management and compliance research solution that gives organizations complete control over their information governance and data compliance efforts.

Download the VR SaaS Solution Brief here.

For years, users have relied on Versatile Retention as the most robust retention schedule solution available on the market. Now VR SaaS provides a cloud-based deployment model of this innovative software in addition to a number of new and important expanded capabilities and features.

• Comprehensive research and automatic updates for over 130 countries worldwide.
• Cloud-based control over retention schedules with complete change management workflow.
• Secure reporting and audit history for all schedule changes and security controls.
• System integration with other commonly used business information databases as well as popular online content repository services.
• Intuitive search engine for a comprehensive search for citations and up-to-date research on any country at any time.

“It can be a burden to find, understand and comply with the many laws regarding records retention and information governance, especially if your organization works across international boundaries and regions,” says Warren Bean, Senior Sales Engineer at Zasio. “We’ve made using Versatile Retention even easier because there is nothing to install, and it is accessible from any mobile device with an internet connection.”

View a 1 minute explainer video of VR SaaS.

For more information or to schedule a demo, please contact Zasio at 1-800-513-1000, opt. 1 or email sales at sales@zasio.com.

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You may use the acronym SaaS, and you may know what it stands for, but do you know what it means? What it does? Do you get confused by the other ‘aaS’ terms, like IaaS and PaaS? If so, then read on! This article will explain what SaaS is and why you’ll want it.

These terms are relatively new, but the concepts behind them are not. In fact, early mainframes used the same model. Users accessed a central computer through “dumb terminals” (keyboards and monitors only). Likewise, the first World Wide Web consisted of university mainframes sharing data through dial-up message boards.

Software ownership took hold with the spread of personal computers, both at home and at work. The growth of personal computers in the workplace meant growth in IT costs. Traditional software required purchasing a license you would own, much like you own a car or other asset. And, like a car, you had to have certain things to make it work, like a place to park it (server), a way to maintain it (IT staff), and a plan to upgrade it after a while (disk space). All of these functions have related costs. For software, this means you would be charged for networks, servers, disk space, IT staff, and so on.

As maintenance became more burdensome, the market responded. Virtual machines and virtual desktops centralized the storage, memory, and computing resources. Users accessed the virtual desktops through “thin clients,” much like the dumb terminals used with mainframes. Now, you don’t have to own the software to access it — that’s where ‘as-a-service’ comes into play.

SaaS

Here is where thing gets more interesting. SaaS, or Software-as-a-Service, is like Uber—something you don’t own but simply use for a time. The Uber driver maintains the car, puts gas in the tank, and makes upgrades as needed. You call the service when you need it.

With SaaS, a software vendor maintains the software and provides access to it through the internet via a web browser—no installation required. SaaS provides the benefits of low up-front costs, no maintenance, and no commitment. The long-term cost benefit depends on many factors each person should consider. Those factors could include number of users, custom requirements, data privacy, etc.

IaaS

Let’s stick with the vehicle analogy. Perhaps you want to drive yourself, but you still don’t want the hassle of maintenance, nor the overhead costs of ownership. What would you do? You could lease or rent a car. This is the idea behind IaaS, or Infrastructure as a Service. You gain access to virtual servers in the cloud and use those servers for whatever you need. The same way a car rental company for a vehicle you lease maintains the vehicle you’re renting, the cloud hosting company is responsible for all servers, maintenance, and networking. This option also allows you to expand the capacity of servers as needs grow—like renting a truck so you can move to a new house.

PaaS

What if you don’t want to drive or be driven by someone else, but you do want the benefits a vehicle provides? For example, say you need to move your stuff to a storage unit but you don’t want to buy or rent a truck. You would pay someone to move it for you. This would be Platform-as-a-Service, or PaaS. The most common example of this is a cloud-hosted database. You don’t want to maintain a database server—you just need the data stored and delivered on demand.

Although these concepts have been around for a long time, they’re now growing in sophistication and popularity with the advancement of cloud-based options and security. It’s important to know the difference between the methods people use to access and deploy software so you can make informed decisions about what works best for you and your business. Welcome to the “gig economy!”

Disclaimer: The purpose of this post is to provide general education on Information Governance topics. The statements are informational only and do not constitute legal advice. If you have specific questions regarding the application of the law to your business activities, you should seek the advice of your legal counsel.

The post What is SaaS? A Primer On a Not-So-New Technology appeared first on Zasio.

Space is limited – schedule today by emailing us at sales@zasio.com!

About MER:

MER is the only national conference focusing on the issues and challenges of managing electronic records and information from three perspectives: legal, technical, and operational. MER brings the best IG professionals together, delivering insight into today’s electronic record management issues. Be prepared to get inspired. Leave with renewed confidence.

The post MER Conference, May 7-9, 2018 appeared first on Zasio.

Zasio, a global leader in Information Governance (IG) technology solutions and consulting services, now offers their records retention program, Versatile Retention, fully online. Versatile Retention is a complete retention schedule management and research solution that gives your business total control over your records retention schedule. With Zasio’s SaaS option, there is no software to install, no servers to manage, and no updates to apply. All you need is a web browser and access to the internet.

“Our customers already tell us Versatile Retention is easy to use. Now it will be even easier because there will be nothing to install, and it will be accessible from any mobile device with an internet connection,” Warren Bean, Senior Sales Engineer at Zasio Enterprises said.

It can be a burden to find and comply with the laws that require businesses to keep records for a certain length of time. Versatile Retention provides a comprehensive solution to this business challenge. Zasio’s online records retention model lets you access, manage, and maintain your retention schedules anywhere and at any time.

Zasio’s Sale Staff currently offers demonstrations of this program to interested clients. For more information about this program or to schedule a demo, please contact Zasio at 1-800-513-1000, opt. 1 or email sales at sales@zasio.com.

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