<        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.>

Cheri:
You've received some good explanations from Larry and Alan and others.
I'd like to clarify these a little more.  For one, your legal counsel is
correct - vital is vital and should be backed up.  The classification of
vital records plays into the allocation of resources.  It is not always
fiscally viable to "back up" and protect ALL vital records in order to
have those necessary for immediate access available in an effective way.
Some vital records should be "backed up" for immediate access, some can
be "backed up" for protection purposes for future access.  There is
often an assumption that "back up" means only photocopies of paper
records and mag tapes for electronic records.  In fact, there are
numerous methods of "back up" or, more properly, protection of vital
records in many media formats, some more costly than others. The method
of protection has direct relationship to the method, timing and cost of
restoration. Determining how quickly and in what manner one must access
which vital records is part of the classification process.  The
classification, in turn, helps determine the costs necessary for
protection and restoration of the records.  These protection and
restoration methods and costs can then be incorporated into business
continuity planning.

Ginny Jones
(Virginia A. Jones, CRM, FAI)
Records Manager
Information Technology Division
Newport News Dept. of Public Utilities
Newport News, VA
[log in to unmask]

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