Driving Business Value Through Data Management

As data continues to shape the future of business, the ability to transform insights into actionable technical solutions is becoming crucial. In a recent interview, Melinda Watts, Global Head of Services at ZL Tech and former Head of eDiscovery Risk Management at Wells Fargo, emphasized the need for organizations to bridge the gap between business needs and technical capabilities. A critical part of this is setting clear retention policies for unstructured data and implementing governance practices that effectively classify and track information.

Watts’s message is clear: effective data management is not just about cutting costs—it's about fostering long-term success. A streamlined approach to privacy actions, risk management, and data governance delivers not only cost savings but also compliance and rapid data access, setting organizations on a path toward innovation while maintaining security and efficiency. In this context, organizations must efficiently manage vast amounts of unstructured data while staying compliant with ever-evolving regulations. This involves minimizing operational costs and reducing risks, such as data breaches or regulatory penalties. On the technical side, robust capabilities are needed to implement defensible retention policies, accurately classify data, and ensure fast access to critical information. Aligning these technical solutions with business objectives is essential for driving growth and maintaining compliance.

A key takeaway from Watts’s insight is the importance of holistic lifecycle management, particularly defensible deletion. By reducing storage needs and mitigating risks like non-compliance and data breaches, businesses can take control of their data lifecycle, retaining only essential information and securely eliminating outdated data.

Watts also highlighted the importance of speed in accessing data in today’s fast-paced regulatory environment. Organizations that can quickly retrieve and analyze their data are better positioned to meet compliance demands and operational needs. This strengthens their information governance framework, ensuring that data is searchable, accurately classified, and consistently compliant with legal standards, while also boosting their ability to extract valuable insights for analytics and AI.

Properly managing sensitive data, such as Personally Identifiable Information (PII), is another crucial aspect of comprehensive data governance. Defensible deletion ensures that PII is only retained for the required duration and securely deleted in accordance with legal guidelines, reducing the risk of privacy breaches and non-compliance.

Beyond the technical and cost-saving advantages, strong data governance significantly mitigates risk. Reducing the data footprint decreases the likelihood of breaches, privacy violations, and regulatory fines, keeping operations secure, compliant, and efficient. As Watts has emphasized, effective data management is about more than just cost control—it’s about governing data from creation to defensible deletion. By managing privacy actions and risks through strong governance, organizations can optimize operations, minimize exposure to threats, and drive long-term innovation.

data management data privacy lifecycle management PII regulatory compliance risk management unstructured data management

Anna received her Bachelors in Applied Mathematics from Virginia Commonwealth University, during which she also worked tutoring. After graduating, her interest in unique problem solving and communication landed her in the Marketing Department at ZL Tech.