Digital rights management, often known as enterprise DRM, gives companies control over the sharing capabilities of their documents. Nothing about this technology is necessarily new, rights management versions have been in Windows Server since 2003. For businesses, its generally surprising that many are unaware of the benefits of employing DRM. Data control is enforced over networks, mobile devices, and applications so why not documents. DRM allows companies to share quotes and prices with clientele, monitoring the number of times the document has been opened. You can also set documents to expire, such as with prices and quotes so only the most current document is available. In addition DRM allows for control of sharing, making it possible to send documents to clients without them being forwarded to your competition.
Companies are beginning to see that protecting the perimeter and devices is no longer enough, and that a data-centric approach is necessary, says Dan Plastina who runs Microsoft’s rights management offerings. He goes on to to describe rights management as “identity-bound data protection; you encrypt the files so only the right person has access to it”. Although most of the companies that have DRM capabilities enforced are in finance, automotive, or manufacturing, data rights management is important for greater range of companies than it is currently reaching. What companies need to understand is the importance of control. Data goes to the cloud, to clients, to vendors, forwarded to partners, passed around without any central control of what is being sent, changed, or if the data is current. DRM eliminates the mess of rogue data.
The most important thing to acknowledge with DRM is flexibility of control. Rights management works well if you begin by identifying the basic needs, classifying, labeling and protecting. This way you can ensure that digital rights management is working to the benefit of your company.
If you would like to educate yourself in more detail about the information presented in this blog post please visit: Why you need DRM for your documents
