Glen wrote "...The logical outcome of this[greed]is a future where
everything electronic is kept, regardless of content and context, for
specified time periods, and managed for discovery and similar purposes by
Google-type search facilities. The risks associated with keeping things too
long will be over-ruled by legislated fixed retention periods, based on
media type...What IS left is supporting business needs other than
compliance. KM here we come"

Exactly. In many environments it's already a struggle to justify
labour-intensive, training-intensive, human error possible (probable?)
disposal programs...it will only become increasingly difficult unless we
come up with some better reasons than "compliance with 'insert regulation
here' ".

And Bob Dalton wrote "Just because you can [store everything on a pin-head],
doesn't mean you should."

Well some IT folks will argue vehemently otherwise Bob (they already do) and
their arguments are popular - the .  Most folks (even IT) seem to agree that
we can't destroy everything.  So, we're left with two options

Option 1) Disposal program - involving humans who are well trained to make
decisions...it's labour intensive and therefore expensive and subject to
both human error and Monday-morning quarterbacking of the worst kind)

Option 2) Keep everything - no human intervention at the transaction level
required, no nasty "what-if" arguments with lawyers or historians,

I suspect that in many organisations disposal programs are accepted as a
necessary evil ... certainly many I've encountered ... if it becomes cheaper
and easier to just keep it all then many organisations will choose that
option...whether it be greed as Glenn suggests or ignorance or a combination
of both they will make that choice.

Glenn is right...if we've sold our programs on the basis of compliance we're
not going to have a leg to stand on ...compliance will be far better served
by keeping everything (including RECMGMT-L messages and lunch invites) and
being able to find it in a nanosecond than any disposal program will ever be
able to do as there won't be the risk of a distracted records sentencer
accidentally destroying the wrong thing.

I'll be getting back in my box now ;)

Cheers, Bernadette

Bernadette Bean
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mob:0412 848750
email: [log in to unmask]

When life hands you lemons, ask for Tequila and Salt

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