Before I went to Ireland I set up some time to meet with records
managers over there. I even asked if we had any Listserv members in
Ireland. I wished to visit with them and compare technologies. One
member of our Listserv came over from London and it was great meeting
him and talking about those things I know about and those things he
knew about. I admit I did not know how advanced Ireland was and I found
a similar situation with a company in Scotland. I always learn things
when I travel.
It's funny, the older I get, the dumber I feel. But on the plus side,
the older my kids get, the smarter I look. So, I have a happy
tradeoff.
What I found out was that Filestore in Dublin, Kilkenny and Belfast
are not only meeting American technologies in some areas but surpassing
it in many other areas. They used Oneil for their tracking software and
another respected company in Scotland used DHS Total Recall, so once
again the global economy is at work as American products are
incorporated into the technology solution. Maybe these software
companies outsource their programming to India? But Filestore's method
of incorporating their tracking software into their quality assurance
to the client was nice to see. Their accuracy rate was amazing.
FIRELOCK uses a variety of product manufacturers in Texas, Mexico,
Indiana, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and Canada so I see global
specialties in our own business. But that doesn't mean that I don't
have concerns for the internal technology let out of the bag in a
market I can't use American courts to control. But if they steal
FIRELOCK technology, my family and our employees would be hurt. But
when entire data bases of financial data are serviced overseas, it
worries me. Identity Theft and its associated effects is now a hundred
billion dollar nightmare. What a drain on our society! How do we
react? Where is this money going? Some is funding terrorism.
I think that this rush to take programming and software development out
of the country is a concern to our financial stability. A fine equal
to two years salary in India is not equivalent to some of the fines
imposed on some of the pharmaceuticals of $500 million, $150 million,
$35 million and the fine imposed on Bank of America a while back of $10
million. In one case, it turned out it was cheaper to pay the fine
than fix the problem. Losing control of vital data (vital records) is a
true catastrophe!
If an American CEO and CFO can go to prison for 10 years, as is
possible under SOX and they have no real understanding of the
implications of this large scale outsourcing, then this is an issue of
concern. How does a records manager play a role here? Do the companies
that perform this work have solid records management programs?
Remember when ISO 9000 pushed companies to use other companies that
were also ISO Certified. This is becoming an issue with SOX. SOX was
as big a concern in Ireland as it is over here? I found that amazing.
Several members of the List sent me emails poking fun at me about
Gerard's post and one said:
> Gerard ripped three people in just three sentences! Wow...
>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Gerard Nicol [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
>>
>> Larry, The fact that you learn things from Hugh is more a reflection
>> of your
>> own level of knowledge than anything else.
>>
>> Personally, I do not have to go to Ireland or hear of Hugh's visit to
>> know that the Irish are not backward.
>>
>> The fact that Hugh is allowed to shamelessly push his product on this
>> list only reflects poorly on the list administrator. Any sarcasm is a
>> reflection of my contempt for this fact.
>>
>> Gerard
In defense of Larry, he was only being a friend by sticking up for me.
Larry and I both know that in the knowledge exchange I am always in his
debt. In defense of Peter, I post too often for him to censor all my
posts. In defense of the Irish I never said they were backward, my
comments were to the contrary. I learned a great deal at Filestores.
They are nice people with great integrity and their rapid growth is
reflective of this and their strong grasp on technology.
At the Listserve party I will buy a drink for anyone that I offended.
:~) (Offer not valid in Texas.)
Hugh Smith
FIRELOCK Fireproof Modular Vaults
[log in to unmask]
(610) 756-4440 Fax (610) 756-4134
WWW.FIRELOCK.COM
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