System and method for business-driven archiving

A process comprising:

• (a) maintaining in a computer storage device a repository of software products in the system, the software products comprising a plurality of business processes, each business process comprising at least one business object;
• (b) maintaining in the computer storage device a plurality of archiving objects;
• (c) maintaining in the repository a mapping of each business process to at least one business object, a mapping of each business object to at least one related database table, and a mapping of each database table to at least one related archiving object;
• (d) receiving into the computer processor a selection of a business process for which data is to be archived;
• and
• (e) using the mapping of the each business process to the at least one business object, the mapping of the each business object to the at least one database table, and the mapping of the each database table to the at least one archiving object to determine the database tables to transmit to the archiving objects.

A computer readable storage device comprising instructions that when executed by a processor execute a process comprising;

• (a) maintaining in a computer storage device a repository of software products in the system, the software products comprising a plurality of business processes, each business process comprising at least one business object;
• (b) maintaining in the computer storage device a plurality of archiving objects;
• (c) maintaining in the repository a mapping of each business process to at least one business object, a mapping of each business object to at least one related database table, and a mapping of each database table to at least one related archiving object;
• (d) receiving into the computer processor a selection of a business process for which data is to be archived;
• and
• (e) using the mapping of the each business process to the at least one business object, the mapping of the each business object to the at least one database table, and the mapping of the each database table to the at least one archiving object to determine the database tables to transmit to the archiving objects.

A system comprising:

• a computer processor and a computer storage device configured to:
• maintain in the computer storage device a plurality of database tables;
• maintain in the computer storage device a plurality of attributes of the database tables;
• receive weighting factors relating to the attributes of the database tables;
• evaluate and rank database tables in the system as a function of the attributes and the weighting factors;
• and
• implement a data volume management strategy as a function of the evaluation and ranking.