Bloomberg has added File Analytics to its Vault enterprise information management service with a view to helping organisations locate and manage dark data held in files and documents.
The company defines dark data as ‘unstructured, untapped data that is held by organisations, which has not been analysed or processed’, and says users of the Vault service drove development of File Analytics as they wanted to move beyond the enterprise communications captured and managed by Vault to locate, manage and realise the potential of unused information within their organisations.
The technology behind File Analytics includes an onsite gateway that provides a single interface to an enterprise’s file share environment; policies for data discovery that are supplied by Bloomberg or can be written by users or third-parties; and a link to the Vault cloud where the data is processed and analysed. Users can then decide whether or not to move any of the data into the Vault archive. To simplify user interaction, the service provides two user interfaces, one for IT users who can connect to file shares and release data, the other for compliance and legal users who are focused on case management.
Use cases proposed by Bloomberg include the ability of business managers to search and discover information that is beneficial for purposes such as reporting, trending and analysis; and the ability of legal and compliance teams to gather data that is created by employees and stored in a file share to support investigations. From an IT perspective, it becomes possible to identify and delete data that is no longer required.
Harald Collet, global business manager of Bloomberg Vault, explains: “Businesses struggle to capture and organise the many different types of unstructured data saved in corporate documents, files and common drives. This dark data presents firms with a significant challenge. Bloomberg Vault File Analytics can help address the problem by enabling companies to organise and analyse large, disparate types of enterprise information.”
With a number of Vault clients beta testing File Analytics ahead of a full production release in mid-July, Collet says the greatest interest is in tracking down sensitive data such as client lists, employee and client details, and data relevant to regulatory compliance.
Neil Roberts, technology chief at global investment firm Polygon, which took part in beta testing, says: “Like most businesses in our space, we produce large volumes of unstructured data. Bloomberg Vault File Analytics is a mechanism to better extract key insight and analysis from dark data. It also allow us to responsibly discard information we no longer need.”
File Analytics is a premium service within Bloomberg Enterprise Solutions and requires a separate subscription Vault. Collet expects many of the 750 firms already using Vault to add File Analytics to their Bloomberg services and also expects to attract new clients with the solution.
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