Datadvantages and the MOMA

I just ran across this data management application from Varonis called Datadvantages. They appear to be doing some very interesting things with file control management interfaces. Their application not only gives administrators the ability to view who can access what in a very fine grain manner they also provide a recommendation service. The recommendations suggest access rights that should be granted or removed based on the system’s heuristics. Based on their marketing documentation it looks like their recommendations are primarily based on frequency of use and the relations between people. If anyone has a better understanding of what the recommendation capabilities of this interface are I would be interested to hear about it.

The Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) in New York had some very interesting though common access control issues when it came to their data. In addition to the general problem of having a large number of users accessing a large number of files the MOMA also has business relations with many other organizations. They also have a need to archive all data that isn’t being used. For there access issues they ended up turning to Datadvantages which seems to be working well for them.

A Computer World article had this to say about the MOMA’s installation of Datadvantages:

Granting or revoking permissions for data access is challenging because the user repository and data file server information are in constant flux. Moreover, once permissions are granted, they are rarely revoked because doing so may have unpredictable consequences on authorized use. This often results in overly permissive access rights for most data users.

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