The records your team writes every day

Tools missing from this list can still qualify. What counts is that your company keeps them in business software.

The records that matter most show work being done, not just its result. A thread in which a customer issue gets resolved. The drafts behind a finished proposal. A ticket that goes from the initial report to the fix. Such records reveal why everyday choices were made, which is precisely what public text does not hold.

More years also help. Watching one kind of task done many times, by many people, is what makes a set of records worth licensing.

Most businesses have changed software over the years. Archived shared drives, an old email server or a project tool you no longer use may still hold years of history. Bring them up on the call. Those systems can sit beside your current ones in the discussion, and stay out just as easily.

Records arrive in all sorts of formats, and nearly all can be considered:

• Message threads from email and chat
• Documents, spreadsheets and presentations
• Drawings in CAD and technical specs
• Tasks, tickets and the comments on them
• Source repositories and reviews

If a format is not on this list, ask about it on the call.

Your originals never move. Your chosen records are copied by License Your Data, names and identifiers are swapped for placeholders, and you sign off on a sample before anything leaves.

Any system, folder, team or date range can be left out. Before anything is shared, sensitive data can be removed or de-identified. Law, accounting and healthcare firms set scope together with their own counsel, and client and patient data stays out.

The records remain yours, and none are shared unless you approve.