"Do any of your organizations have a Vital Records Program in place?"

Yes

"If so, did you classify your vital records into different vital record
classifications?"

Yes.  We use two categories - 1) Emergency Operations, 2) Legal and
Financial.  The first category are for those items that may be needed
during an emergency (building drawings, employee contact lists, chemical
inventories, emergency procedures, management succession lists, etc.).
The second category are those items that necessary for the resumption of
business (essential contracts, payroll, employee benefits information,
accounts receivable, accounts payable, network backup, etc.).

These two categories of vital records may be managed differently based
on how and where they will be used.  The emergency operations vital
records may only be maintained in paper format, with multiple copies at
various locations, including at senior executive's homes.  The legal and
financial vital records might be maintained only in electronic form.
They may not be needed for a day or two, therefore can be maintained in
a remote location for business resumption purposes.

"According to the ARMA International ANSI/ARMA 5-2003 Vital Records
Programs: Identifying, Managing, and Recovering Business-Critical
Records publication (ANSI/ARMA 5-2003) they recommend doing so with the
classifications listed below.

        Vital A:  Essential for emergency operations.
        Vital B:  Essential for immediate resumption and continuation of
business following a disaster.
        Vital C:  Essential for legal or audit purposes.

My organization's legal counsel is questioning the need to classify the
vital records into different classifications.  They feel that only one
classification is necessary and that is "vital".   It's either vital or
it's not & if it's vital it needs to be backed up.  Classifications
don't matter."

I think your legal counsel may be missing the point here, the
classifications that are described in the ARMA publication refer to the
point in time when the information will be needed again.  As a result,
you may want to apply more resources to one category over another.  They
are all vital, just some are more vital in managing a current emergency
than others.



Lee Michael, CRM
Records Program Manager
National Renewable Energy Laboratory
Golden, CO

List archives at http://lists.ufl.edu/archives/recmgmt-l.html
Contact [log in to unmask] for assistance