Data Portability: The Problem and the Solution

Maybe your company uses an online application to track invoices. You've spent hours adding data that is crucial to the business's operations to that web application and you may not have any printed copies of that information now. It's a useful tool, but something better comes along - maybe an application that creates invoices specifically for your industry. You want to switch over to using the new application right away. But how do you get all of that important information into the new application?

That's the question of data portability: Can you export and import your data from applications in a format that other tools will understand? If not, this can be a problem. For many companies, it amounts to re-entering all of your data by hand or copying and pasting it in small chunks whenever you want to switch to a new tool.

Importing: Moving Data IN

Many web applications have systems in place that allow for easy importing of data: an invoicing application may allow you to automatically bring in your data from QuickBooks, while a customer relations tool will often let you import your entire address book from Gmail or other popular email services. As a rule, such applications are more likely to support bringing in information from well-known tools, simply because they are more popular and it takes time to implement the import process for each different source of data.

Exporting: Moving Date OUT

Getting your information out of a web application can be more difficult. Many make no provision for downloading or exporting data, although the number of services that offer some level of data portability is increasing. Those that do, often rely on formats like XML or CSV, which can easily be opened by a variety of different software programs. A CSV file, for instance, can be opened by just about any spreadsheet software. An XML file is more likely to provide a way to upload information to another software program.

What to Look For

In order to protect your company's data, it's best to work with applications that at least offer some level of data portability. When considering a new application, whether online or on your desktop, it's worth checking what formats you can export your data in. Most software programs list such information under their FAQ, although you may need to speak to a customer service representative to find out specific file formats. It's also worth checking if there are other applications that can use your data, with or without a download. For instance, some customer relations management applications will allow you to use your data with newsletter services and other online tools.

Some services that have not made exporting data a standard feature do offer options for an additional price. Such services are often listed as back-up services; they may provide a file for downloading your data or they may mail you a CD containing your data. While it would be preferable that such services were standard, having access to your data is worth paying for.

The DataPortability Project focuses on one aspect of the overall issue of data portability: network services. The project is working with such sites as Google, Facebook and Plaxo in order to create open standards which allow for easy transitions of data between networking services. Despite the narrow focus of the organization, the DataPortability Project supports standards which will eventually lead to data portability standards for a broader group of services. The project can be a good source of information on data portability and open standards.