Northern is a company focused solely on user data management. Founded in 1995 in Sweden, it now has headquarters in Wakefield, MA and offices globally. The amount of user-generated data organizations handle is growing rapidly at 50% annually. Most organizations lack insight and control over this data. Northern's solution provides insight into and control over user-generated data through goal-driven processes involving the organization to define policies and continuously evaluate them. Northern analyzes user data through scanning and reports and provides tools to control and influence the data set through quotas, blocking file types, and more.

1. USER DATA
MANAGEMENT

2. ABOUT NORTHERN
• Focused solely on User Data Management
• Founded in 1995 in Stockholm Sweden, serving
customers around the world
• US Headquarters: Wakefield, MA
• Development of software product done in Stockholm
• Service desk in Stockholm, supporting customers globally
• Sales and local services staff in Boston, Washington DC,
Stockholm, London, Paris, Turin and Utrecht
• First quota solution for Windows NT
• Pioneering SRM for EMC Celerra
• Only third-party quota on EMC Isilion

3. USER DATA CHALLENGE
• Amount of information handled by organizations growing
rapidly – in many organizations +50% p.a.
• Majority of data-growth is in user generated data
• Most large organizations:
– have limited insight into their user generated data
– are unable to predict and control their data-growth
•
•
As amount of data multiplies, simply increasing
storage capacity is no longer a viable solution.
More and more organizations look for means to
gain control over their data and data growth.

4. THE USER DATA CHALLENGE
• Likely implications of not addressing the user data
challenge:
– Cost (direct/indirect)
– Compliance (internal/external
– Operational risk
– Lost Opportunities
• Addressing the challenge is:
– a cross-functional and management topic
– a matter of defining policies and following up on these
Tools & process for insight,
control, and follow up required

5. COMPANY PROFILE
Northern is dedicated to providing organizations with
solutions and process for User Data Management giving:
– insight into
and
– control over
their user generated data
...with a user and data-centric approach
...across hardware, sites and file formats

6. NORTHERN APPROACH
• Goal-driven process for
User Data Management
• Involving organization
• Discovery phase to
– Refine goals
– Show opportunities to achieve
• Policy-based achievement
• Operations maintain policies
• Continuous re-evaluation
INSIGHT
GOAL
DISCOVERY
OPPORTUNITY
POLICY
OPERATIONS
EVALUATION
CONTROL

7. LONG TERM GOALS
(CUSTOMER EX.)
• Line of Business:
– Insight into their respective data sets:
 Project / department / home folders.....
– Accountable for data and that policies are kept
– Active in reviewing user data policies
• IT Organization:
– Provide input to relevant stakeholders for setting new as well as
reviewing existing user data policies
– Monitor changes in user behavior as well as growth trends
– Identify opportunity for improvements in infra-structure
– Support line of business is gaining insight into data
– Able to enforce policies where applicable

8. NORTHERN SOLUTION
Areas of functionality:
• Analysis of user generated data:
– Scanning file system producing reports for
 Continuous follow up
 Ad hoc analysis
• Tools for controlling/influencing change in data set:
– Quotas
– Blocking specific file types
– Distribution of cost
– Delegating house-keeping to data owners

9. THANK YOU
Robert Bullen/ robert.bullen@northern.net / www.northern.net