There are many types of data that circulate within your company, but a significant chunk of it most likely comes from digital communications like email, social media, mobile messaging and website content. Archiving this digital content is a key component of an effective information governance system.

You may not think of data governance and digital archiving as cost-cutting measures. But they can save your company a lot of money, and even prevent some of the most common data nuisances, including duplicate data, errors in reporting, and issues associated with poor data quality. Here are three ways archiving digital content can help your organization save money:

• Store What You Need; Delete the Rest. If you can reduce your overall data footprint, you can achieve lower data storage costs for your company. According to the Compliance, Governance and Oversight Council, almost 70% of the data stored in a company’s discovery collections has no business, legal or regulatory value. This may be due to duplicate records, or non-relevant data such as office chatter or news articles. A good information governance archiving system will help your company defensibly eliminate information, in line with your corporate and industry retention policies.

• Reduce the Cost of Compliance. Regulations vary by industry, but all companies have some level of compliance responsibility. Your company may be subject to regulations requiring the retention of business records, including digital communications. The consequences of non-compliance can be significant, and usually involve hefty financial penalties. Investing in an archiving solution is essential if you want to meet compliance obligations and drastically reduce the risk of fines.

• Easier E-Discovery. Just about every company will need to undergo an e-discovery exercise at some stage, either as a litigant in a legal action or in support of an internal investigation. Because of the volume of records that are now created by digital communications, you’ll want your legal team be able to directly access your company archive. Reducing the need to involve IT and allowing legal teams to easily search and cull data prior to production can significantly reduce costs.

Risk is everywhere, but effective data governance that includes digital communications archiving can help you intelligently manage that risk while saving your organization money.