60 TB of PST's to Migrate? No Problem!

[TonySterling]

We recently helped a Global Financial Services firm eliminate PST's from their environment. 

Case Study:

As a global provider of financial services, this highly regulated organization made the decision to eliminate PST files from their entire business. This was a compliance-led decision based on the fact that the cost and risks associated with legal discovery of email in PST files were unsustainable. They were unable to track whether they were accessing all data, and the process was very labor intensive. The situation was made worse as PST files were often password protected or corrupt, with no way of accessing the content.

Initially the organization tried a manual approach to PST migration but were struggling with the scale of the problem. The nature of their business meant that most PST files were password protected and users didn’t know their passwords. Over time the number of and size of PST files had grown. They discovered 800 files over 20GB, with the largest at 39GB, all contributing to an increased level of corruption.

The complexity led to the selection of QUADROtech’s PST FlightDeck to automatically locate, centralize, prepare and ingest all files into 3 instances of Symantec’s Enterprise Vault running in data centers on three continents.

The company’s business involved working with other financial institutions world-wide. As such it was vital that the migration process was completely defensible as eDiscovery requests occurred on a frequent basis. The number one priority was end-to-end tracking of the process for every PST file from initial location to final ingestion. PST FlightDeck was determined to be the best solution for this requirement.

Getting Started

The initial stage in the project involved using PST FlightDeck’s capability to locate the entire PST file estate.

This identified about 6,500 users with a total of 60TB of data. The information allowed them to scope the project and configure PST FlightDeck’s advanced centralization technology to avoid impacting live system operation. The next step in the process was the preparation of the files for ingestion.

PST FlightDeck’s ability to process PST files to remove passwords, but without cracking or storing them, meant they could avoid having to interact with users who had probably forgotten the password anyway. De-duplication was also very important. Over time PST files had been duplicated as users created additional backup copies. One user had over 300 PST files. Eliminating duplicate items reduced overall discovery costs. One further consideration was an interface into the help-desk. Inevitably a PST elimination project prompts queries from end-users. Empowering help-desk agents to deal directly with queries through a sophisticated dashboard meant faster resolution and lower impact to the organization.

It was only due to the automation and level of control supplied by PST FlightDeck that the project could be undertaken in the first place. As a result the organization has now implemented a strategy through a defendable PST elimination project allowing the Compliance Office to be certain they are able to meet their legal obligations.

You can find more information here: Case Study - Global Financial Services Provider 60 TB PST Migration

Be sure to visit our website for additional information as well.  http://www.quadrotech-it.com/products/pstflightdeck/

email: info@quadrotech-it.com