In March 2022, public sector software provider Objective announced it had acquired US based enterprise search company Simflofy – a global specialist in taming the curse of data sprawl.

The $5 million acquisition was a significant one, because it extended Objective’s governance-in-place capability beyond the Microsoft Office suite, and resulted in the development of its revolutionary new federated information governance product, Objective 3Sixty.

As such, it signalled Objective’s commitment to the federated information governance space – an evolutionary step away from the traditional record-keeping system that it already had a sound reputation for.

“Built for complex environments with terabytes of data, Objective 3Sixty provides customers with a 360 degree view of their information with the ability to organise, manage and discover their enterprise information from a single Federated Governance application,” Objective CEO Tony Walls says.

Want to find out where your data resides? Get a personalised report here.

Built for complex environments

Objective 3Sixty offers a valuable tool for CIOs, middle managers and records managers, and because it’s built for complex environments involving terabytes of data, the software is well suited to large public sector agencies that can benefit from connecting information sources across an entire organisation.

Put simply, the software provides a window to let users view and control data wherever it resides.

With data sprawl and data silos an exponentially growing issue for the public sector, federated systems help organisations remain compliant with information governance regulations and maintain high levels of security and governance without moving their data.

As its name suggests, Objective 3Sixty is designed to provide users with a 360 degree view and control of their information along with the ability to organise, manage and discover from a single application.

Objective VP Sales and Customer Success Andrea Breen says the product not only cleanses information, but helps managers comply with record keeping, privacy and security legislation and removes the recordkeeping burden from end users.

“Our aim is to provide agencies with a holistic approach to how they govern and manage their information, allowing them to focus on delivering on their goals and driving great community outcomes,” she says.

By connecting information sources, 3Sixty manages the risks associated with holding modern data, including breaches of personal information and having redundant, duplicated or obsolete information in the system.

It does this by using automation to tame data – discovering, visualising and tagging information and transferring documents for long-term retention, providing both full visibility and centralised control.

It makes it possible to manage records-in-place, however, where relevant – for example, where the source system does not have security privileges or long-term preservation capabilities – information can be transferred to a compliant system.

According to Australian ICT and digital advisory company IBRS, the integration of Simflofy’s federated information management capabilities with Objective’s strength in information governance within public sector and highly regulated organisations, “has the potential to balance a unified view of organisation wide content from disparate sources of information, with rigorous information lifecycle management.”

Perhaps best of all, the product acts largely behind the scenes to ensure governance and compliance is met seamlessly.

Want to find out where your data resides? Get a personalised report here.

What about if you had a single view of your data? Read more about Objective 3Sixty.

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