Policies for data security are a corporate concern and should be a fundamental element of an enterprise security strategy. Strategic security policies can then spawn tactical and operational policies through the joint efforts of the security and storage organizations. To that end, storage must become an integral part of the corporate security strategy.

To achieve these goals, a corporation should build a practice around five fundamental areas:

• Assign accountability, responsibility and authority
• Assess risk
• Develop a data protection process
• Communicate the process
• Execute and test the process