System and method for assigning a business value rating to documents in an enterprise

1. A method for managing information in an enterprise, comprising:

receiving a document from a component of an enterprise network, the enterprise network comprising a plurality of heterogeneous data servers and a plurality of clients;

determining, with a processor, one or more characteristics associated with the document, wherein the one or more characteristics are selected from the group comprising a creator of the document, a sender of the document, a receiver of the document, and a quantity of recipients of the document;

determining, with the processor, a priority score for the document based on a respective level of risk that each user in a set of users associated with the document poses to the enterprise, each respective level of risk corresponding to each user's role in the enterprise, wherein the set of users comprises the sender of the document and the receiver of the document;

assigning, with the processor, a business value rating to the document based, at least in part, on the one or more characteristics and the priority score; and

performing an operation with the document based on the business value rating.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein assigning a business value rating to the document comprises assigning a business value rating to the document based, at least in part, on one or more of the characteristics and a predetermined policy.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

determining, with the processor, the contents of the document; and

wherein assigning a business value rating to the document comprises assigning a business value rating based, at least in part, on contents of the document.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein performing an operation comprises at least one of:

storing a record associated with the document, wherein the record includes the assigned business value rating and the one or more characteristics;

storing the document;

transmitting an alert based on the assigned business value rating, wherein the alert is transmitted to at least one of the sender of the document and a third party;

preventing the document from being transmitted;

preventing the document from being accessed on one of the plurality of heterogeneous data servers;

transmitting the document;

transmitting the document in response to receiving transmission approval from a third party; and

allowing the document to be accessed on one of the plurality of heterogeneous data server in response to receiving access approval from a third party.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more characteristics are further selected from the group comprising an age of the document, a size of the document, a name of the document, a type of document, an encryption level of the document, document owner, who has access to the document, a date the document was last accessed, a date the document was created, and where the document is located.

6. A system for managing information in an enterprise, comprising:

a processor operable to:

receive a document from a component of an enterprise network;

determine one or more characteristics associated with the document, wherein the one or more characteristics are selected from the group comprising a creator of the document, a sender of the document, a receiver of the document, and a quantity of recipients of the document;

determine a priority score for the document based on a respective level of risk that each user in a set of users associated with the document poses to the enterprise, each respective level of risk corresponding to each user's role in the enterprise, wherein the set of users comprises the sender of the document and the receiver of the document;

assign a business value rating to the document based, at least in part, on the one or more characteristics and the priority score; and

perform an operation with the document based on the business value rating.

7. The system of claim 6 , wherein the component of an enterprise network comprises:

a plurality of heterogeneous data servers; and

a plurality of clients in communication with at least one of the plurality of heterogeneous data servers.

8. The system of claim 6 , wherein the processor is operable to assign a business value rating to the document by assigning a business value rating to the document based, at least in part, on one or more of the characteristics and a predetermined policy.

9. The system of claim 6 , wherein the processor is further operable to determine the contents of the document; and

wherein the processor is operable to assign a business value rating to the document by assigning a business value rating based, at least in part, on contents of the document.

10. The system of claim 6 , wherein the processor is operable to perform an operation by performing an operation selected from the group of:

storing a record associated with the document, wherein the record includes the assigned business value rating and the one or more characteristics;

storing the document;

transmitting an alert based on the assigned business value rating, wherein the alert is transmitted to at least one of the sender of the document and a third party;

preventing the document from being transmitted;

preventing the document from being accessed on one of the plurality of heterogeneous data servers;

transmitting the document;

transmitting the document in response to receiving transmission approval from a third party; and

allowing the document to be accessed on one of the plurality of heterogeneous data server in response to receiving access approval from a third party.

11. The system of claim 6 , wherein the one or more characteristics are further selected from the group comprising an age of the document, a size of the document, a name of the document, a type of document, an encryption level of the document, a document owner, who has access to the document, a date the document was last accessed, a date the document was created, and where the document is located.

12. A non-transitory computer readable medium encoded with logic, the logic operable, when executed on a processor, to:

receive a document from a component of an enterprise network, the enterprise network comprising a plurality of heterogeneous data servers and a plurality of clients;

determine one or more characteristics associated with the document, wherein the one or more characteristics are selected from the group comprising a creator of the document, a sender of the document, a receiver of the document, and a quantity of recipients of the document;

determine, with the processor, a priority score for the document based on a respective level of risk that each user in a set of users associated with the document poses to an enterprise, each respective level of risk corresponding to each user's role in the enterprise, wherein the set of users comprises the sender of the document and the receiver of the document;

assign, with the processor, a business value rating to the document based, at least in part, on the one or more characteristics and the priority score; and

perform an operation with the document based on the business value rating.

13. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 12 , wherein the logic is operable to assign a business value rating to the document by assigning a business value rating to the document based, at least in part, on one or more of the characteristics and a predetermined policy.

14. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 12 , wherein the logic is further operable to determine the contents of the document; and

wherein the logic is operable to assign a business value rating to the document by assigning a business value rating based, at least in part, on contents of the document.

15. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 12 , wherein the logic is operable to perform an operation by performing an operation selected from the group of:

storing a record associated with the document, wherein the record includes the assigned business value rating and the one or more characteristics;

storing the document;

transmitting an alert based on the assigned business value rating, wherein the alert is transmitted to at least one of the sender of the document and a third party;

preventing the document from being transmitted;

preventing the document from being accessed on one of the plurality of heterogeneous data servers;

transmitting the document;

transmitting the document in response to receiving transmission approval from a third party; and

allowing the document to be accessed on one of the plurality of heterogeneous data server in response to receiving access approval from a third party.

16. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 12 , wherein the one or more characteristics are further selected from the group comprising an age of the document, a size of the document, a name of the document, a type of document, an encryption level of the document, a document owner, who has access to the document, a date the document was last accessed, a date the document was created, and where the document is located.

17. A system for managing information in an enterprise, comprising:

means for receiving a document from a component of an enterprise network, the enterprise network comprising a plurality of heterogeneous data servers and a plurality of clients;

means for determining, with a processor, one or more characteristics associated with the document, wherein the characteristics are selected from the group comprising a creator of the document, a sender of the document, a receiver of the document, and a quantity of recipients of the document;

means for determining, with the processor, a priority score for the document based on a respective level of risk that each user in a set of users associated with the document poses to the enterprise, each respective level of risk corresponding to each user's role in the enterprise, wherein the set of users comprises the sender of the document and the receiver of the document;

means for assigning, with the processor, a business value rating to the document based, at least in part, on the one or more characteristics and the priority score; and

means for performing an operation with the document based on the business value rating.