The critical concern here is defining this system as a backup (and operating it as a backup) versus an archive. As long as data is only being maintained through a rotation period or is simply a live mirror of production data, your concerns are minimal. And that means that they aren't creating snapshots of application data that will be retained for more than 60 days (my threshold for backup versus archive, YMMV). It also means that they aren't going to use the system to restore deleted email or LAN files (except when there is danger of spoliation). The backup system exists solely for business continuity / disaster recovery purposes.

Over and above that, you should make a small effort to walk through Data Privacy and data mapping for litigation purposes, but unless your mandate includes information security and business continuity, I would stay away from those topics if there are other qualified professionals in those spaces.

Once you get the answers to: 1) Are you maintaining snapshots of data for more than 60 days? and 2) Are you going to be using the system to restore deleted email or files? your job is really done and it is an IT problem. If they are doing snapshots, then you have to work them into a retention schedule. If they are doing restores, then you also have to look at a retention schedule or at least some procedural guidance for how and when restores are done -- and ensure that there is a legal hold process in place for the backups. That will be the biggest deterrent to IT planning to use the backups for restores -- if they know that Legal can immediately halt tape rotations and require them to stockpile tapes indefinitely.

 Patrick Cunningham, CRM
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