Do you really need to keep all that stuff?

“Subscribe for our advanced cloud storage today!”

“Add 1 TB to your storage space for 50% off this week!”

The emails that come bearing these incredible offers are fast and frequent. Unfortunately they also rely on you not thinking about the best way to increase your available storage…by deleting things.

Because something is digital, it has no perceived weight, size, or capacity to take up space in our world, so why throw it away? We might just need it at some time in the future. With this thought and others, the trap is set.

Here’s a fun fact…by default, Microsoft SharePoint saves up to 500 versions of a file you place in one of it’s libraries as you edit and save that file. Not five, not 50, but 500. Now do the math of how many files you are saving and you can see why big tech is so anxious to have you add on to your monthly storage quota to keep those versions you “might” need someday.

Where to begin?

Start with the big files first. Videos are a great example. While it may be convenient to have video files in cloud storage, when was the last time you actually played back that video from there? The cloud can be effective for sharing, but far less for long term retention of large files such as videos. This is the time to start thinking about offline storage.

Three copies, two media, one to go

The strategy of protecting your files is best served by following this phrase: “Three copies, two media, one to go.” Let’s break it down.

That video of your kid’s graduation or the once in a lifetime trip somewhere…do you really want the only copy of that stored on some big tech server somewhere? A location where, in the worst case, they are no longer in business and your memories disappear just as easily?

Here’s the plan:

Leave a copy in the cloud, but also make a copy to two local storage devices. Preferably to your computer (if you have the space available…not always the case with the move to SSD drives) and to an external drive.

For example, I keep my most active files (the ones where I never know where I’ll be when I need them) in the cloud for easy access. I also keep copies of those files on my local computer drive AND I make a copy of them on the external hard drive I have for long term storage. Three copies, two media (or more), one (or more) to go.

Sounds like a lot of work.

That’s what big tech is counting on. If things feel difficult or cumbersome, they’re happy to offer an “easy” solution for a nominal fee. But is it really necessary? Let’s do a little more math.

Two terabytes of storage from Google in the cloud will run you about $100 annually. An external USB connected hard drive will run you just a bit more. Year one, the price comparison is a wash. Year two…now we start to see savings. The savings can justify the extra effort pretty quickly.

But what about…

The arguments start to come in, “what about search? what about sharing?” Remember the phrase…three copies, two media, one to go? No one said you CAN’T use the cloud…only that you should use it for the right things. Things that need to be shared are a good candidate for one of the copies to be in the cloud. Things that are rarely needed…they’re best served using local storage and a logical naming system.

Still sounds complicated.

Making the change from the “cloud will manage my stuff” to taking responsibility can be a bit of an effort, but in the long term it is the best approach. Subscriptions are temporary, no matter how big the company is providing them, whereas owning your content and files where you want them is the right way to keep control in this changing tech landscape.

But what about AI? (suppressing eyeroll)

Yes, AI can leverage your information to give you insights and synthesize answers based on your files and content. But what is AI doing with your information when you’re not using it? Does it really need everything you’ve stored? Selective use of information with AI can get far more accurate results than pointing it at the ocean and telling it to go boil it all.

That’s not how they do it at work.

Nope, it isn’t. Want to know why?

They consider information maintenance and storage a cost of doing business, not a benefit for the business. They keep all the things because it’s “non-productive” to clean up, organize, and manage the information. They’d rather let the wonders of machine learning and AI do the work and trust the result, failing to take into consideration that your systems are only as smart as the information put into them.

Ok, so where do I begin?

First, talk to an independent professional. Someone with business, productivity, and IT experience who can map out what you have, what you want, and what you actually need. Compare costs, accessibility, retention, and protection. Then…and this is the real hard part…get ready to get rid of things you don’t need anymore. Free up that space, reduce those subscription costs, and get a handle on what’s worth keeping.