Trusted Edge, a startup based in McLean, VA, develops software to manage data at the “edge” of corporate networks. Laptop computers are especially vulnerable points because they are prone to loss and theft. Aside from a physical loss, unmanaged data on laptops can be a significant liability since no server based policies apply to management of data at the edge.
This is where Trusted Edge steps in. They develop an application that is installed on client machines that listens for the creation of data and prompts users to identify or categorize the data for purposes of enforcing server-based policies that governs retention and disposition. Unique identifiers and metadata are stored “inside” of the file, either in the property fields of Office documents or in the extended atttribute block of NTFS, that is also referenced in their server application’s database. This then allows for programmatic policies to be enacted that governs management of such data elements.
I was able to speak to Ed Sullivan, Director of Business Develoment, recently to get a sense of the company’s focus. Trusted Edge gets the fact that corporate assets can also be stored in a Content Management repository and not just unmanaged in a file system. I was able to see a demo of their application with OpenText’s LiveLink and the result is impressive. Integration with OpenText and relationships with IBM and Symantec are strategic to the Trusted Edge offering.
Securing desktop data is an incredibly imporant application. Look no further than the stories of lost or stolen super-secret government organization laptops containing unencrypted data or misplaced laptops from accounting firms containing tens of thousands of Social Security numbers. Having mobile workforces encourages the mobility of data, but it can’t be at the expense of compliance guidelines.
Securing desktop data is an incredibly difficult objective as well. The task is not without inherent challenges related to proprietary files and legacy data. As such, Trusted Edge plans on being able to perform a “file system sweep” in future versions to gain insight into existing desktop data.
Documents that fall under regulatory compliance guidelines need to be managed with the same level of granularity and attention that is being applied to email management and retention. Trusted Edge currently supports integration with email clients such as Outlook and Lotus Notes. David Golgschlag, CTO of Trusted Edge, tells me that future versions will support PDAs, Outlook Web Access, and Notes Web Access. “Branding” of metadata into Adobe PDF, one of the most proprietary file formats known to mankind, is on their roadmap for support as well.
There are a few interesting technical similarities between Trusted Edge and NextPage, another company that is tackling the related problem of document versioning from a very different angle. Sending contracts back and forth between firms for agreement typically results in not being able to easily identify specific versions of documents. Like Trusted Edge, the NextPage client application also writes a unique identifier into the extended attributes of files. Trusted Edge is an internally installed solution to desktop data management, whereas NextPage deploys a public facing web service that tracks the movement and changes to documents throughout the internet using their client application.
Trusted Edge is funded by Novak Biddle Venture Partners, a Bethesda, MD based firm, and other private investors.