Certainly. Here’s a professional and thorough articulation of closing the Planview application in a corporate environment, with best practices for data backup (local and cloud) and preserving historical information:
Closure of Planview Application: Best Practices for Data Backup and Historical Retention
As part of decommissioning the Planview application in a corporate setting, it is essential to ensure a structured and secure closure process that preserves historical data for compliance, audit, and future reference. Below is a best-practice-based approach.
1. Governance & Planning
a.
Stakeholder Engagement
- Identify key stakeholders: PMO, IT, Legal, Finance, Data Governance, Internal Audit.
- Conduct a closure planning meeting to:
- Define objectives and retention requirements.
- Document compliance and regulatory needs (e.g., SOX, GDPR, ISO 27001).
- Assign accountability.
b.
Audit and Retention Policy Review
- Review corporate data retention policies.
- Ensure backup and archival plans align with legal and business requirements (e.g., 7–10 years for project documentation).
2. Data Inventory & Extraction
a.
Inventory of Data Assets
- Modules to include: Projects, Timesheets, Tasks, Resources, Financials, Portfolios, Reports, Comments, Attachments.
- Identify custom fields and integrations.
b.
Data Export Options
- Structured exports:
- Use Planview APIs or built-in export utilities (CSV/XML/JSON formats).
- Export master and transactional data (Projects, Work Items, Users, Dependencies, Comments).
- Reports and dashboards:
- Export key reports to PDF and Excel.
- Preserve portfolio views and Gantt charts as PDFs or images for archival.
- Attachments and Documents:
- Bulk download via Planview Admin tools or custom scripts using API.
3. Backup Strategy
a.
Local Backup
- Store data in a structured file system or local data warehouse.
- Maintain metadata for data source, export date, and versioning.
- Encrypt sensitive files and use file integrity verification (e.g., checksums).
b.
Cloud Archival
- Use enterprise-grade cloud storage platforms (e.g., SharePoint, AWS S3, Azure Blob, or Google Cloud Storage).
- Apply lifecycle policies to transition data to lower-cost storage after defined periods.
- Leverage immutable storage (WORM) for legal holds if required.
4. Decommissioning Activities
a.
Access & Permissions
- Freeze user access to prevent updates.
- Maintain admin access during archival verification.
- Log all activities for audit trail.
b.
Decommission Timeline
- Communicate decommission date to users in advance.
- Provide data access support window (e.g., 60–90 days post shutdown).
- Retire Planview licenses and associated infrastructure.
5. Documentation & Handoff
a.
Closure Report
- Summarize:
- Data backed up and storage locations.
- Retention periods and responsible owners.
- Stakeholder sign-offs and approvals.
b.
Knowledge Transfer
- Create a user guide explaining where and how to access archived data.
- Archive historical user manuals, process flows, and SOPs.
6. Post-Closure Considerations
- Monitor retention compliance over time.
- Review need for periodic data access (e.g., for audits or executive reporting).
- Reuse or retire integrations that depended on Planview (e.g., for Jira, ERP, or HRMS syncs).
Structure
/Planview_Archive/
/2025_Backup/
- Projects.csv
- Tasks.csv
- Comments.csv
- Users.csv
- Timesheets.xlsx
- Reports/
- Portfolio_Summary_Q4_2024.pdf
- Financials_Monthly_2023.xlsx
- Attachments/
- PID_12345_Charter.pdf
- PID_56789_ClosureReport.docx
Conclusion
The closure of Planview should be treated as a formal project with clear objectives, governance, and data preservation goals. By adopting a structured and policy-aligned approach, organizations can mitigate data loss risks, fulfill compliance obligations, and retain historical intelligence to support future strategy and audits.