Remote work is now the norm, not the exception. And while working from home or other locations comes with several benefits, it also has a few drawbacks—namely, security and compliance—for those tasked with managing remote and hybrid workforces.
Some pockets of your organization might be using Google Workspace, while others may be using Microsoft 365, Slack or other office productivity and collaboration tools and applications—not all of which have been approved by the IT department.
“Companies are grappling with the maturation and evolution of their work requirements, so there are substantially greater numbers of remote workers than ever before, and a more unique and diverse user base with different requirements using different types of collaboration tools across the organization,” said Aric Bandy, Executive Vice-President of Cloud and Corporate Development at Pythian.
Ensuring compliance in this type of environment is complicated, especially for departments that handle sensitive corporate or employee data.
For example, how do you equip your finance team to collaborate with spreadsheets remotely so they can close out the month? How do you ensure human resources can access sensitive employee information while working from home? And how do you prevent data loss from employee turnover, so you’re not in trouble during an audit or legal inquiry?
Here are some common compliance issues facing HR, legal and finance departments:
HR compliance issues: HR personnel deal with a vast amount of private employee data—everything from social insurance numbers to salary details, health information and background checks. They’re also responsible for handling complaints and disputes. Violating HR data privacy compliance could result in fees and penalties, and possibly even legal action.
Legal and finance compliance: In certain lines of business, such as legal and finance, organizations are required to keep certain records for a set period time for compliance purposes. This has become much harder (and costlier) in a digital world, as data grows exponentially and as organizations deal with remote workforce turnover.
Staying on the right side of compliance with Google Vault and Pythian
Google Vault is an information governance and e-discovery tool for Google Workspace Business and Enterprise editions. With Vault, you can retain, hold, search and export users’ Workspace data from select apps, set retention rules and holds on data for an entire domain or specific organizational units, as well as retrieve valuable information, even from suspended accounts.
With Google Vault, you’ll unlock new ways to improve compliance in Google Workspace, such as creating separate organizational units that separate users who handle private employee data, and ensuring only approved users have access to certain sensitive information. You can also track who’s accessing what (and when they’re accessing it), set up alerts and configure DLP (data loss prevention) reports for private employee files.
Google Vault is designed to assist with compliance frameworks so, for example, every email that employees send or receive is automatically indexed and audited in Google Vault—creating an audit trail that’s updated each time a user accesses that data. You can also apply retention rules, so data is automatically deleted when it’s no longer needed, making it easier to manage data and maintain compliancy.
But doing this properly requires a deep understanding of Google Vault, and your IT team may not have the time, resources or internal skillsets to navigate the ins and outs of this specific toolset.
Why choose a partner for Google Vault?
Pythian’s long-established Google Workspace practice encompasses a full range of services, from recommending the Google tools that best suit an organization’s needs, to training and support. A partner like Pythian can provide proactive guidance on the options and benefits of Google Vault, helping to mature your entire IT operations through process, security and compliance.
Google Workspace is better with Pythian. We offer more comprehensive support for Google Workspace than typical resellers, and can help your business become more compliant while unlocking additional value.
Want to learn more about Google Vault? Talk to one of our Google Workspace experts.
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