Hi Everyone,

My name is Chris and I am the Corporate Records Manager for a
semiconductor manufacturer based in Idaho. I have only been in this role
for a few months now, and previous to that I worked in Records
Management for a year and half. I have lurked on this list the whole
time, and have learned a lot by doing so; anecdotally, I actually
leveraged you all in my interview for my current position: when asked by
the Hiring Manager about my lack of experience, and challenged to show
my ingenuity in obtaining information, I pointed out the existence of
this List and the generous nature of its members concerning the sharing
of their vast experience and knowledge. So here I am again, asking for
your help.

My organization recently purchased a software package, including offsite
hosting of the data generated within the application. Some of the data
in particular has historically been printed to hard copy and on file. I
recommended to the group supporting the app that we continue with this
process as the information currently has a permanent retention, and I
have concerns over the vendor's ability or interest to manage the data
long-term, particularly what the plan is for the data if/when our
relationship with the vendor ends (also, call me crazy, but something
about permanent electronic sounds to me like an oxymoron, but I
digress....) Anyway, I received severe push-back from the group, all the
way up to the manager level; they were adamant in their desire to keep
only the soft copy version, and I think they thought it was ridiculous
and antiquated that I would suggest otherwise.

My questions for you are as follows:

1.)	Are my concerns valid, or am I just being paranoid? I have
always prided myself on being a progressive thinker, and I don't want to
fall into the rut of traditional thinking that relies too heavily on
paper (yes, Steve, I have been paying attention....)
2.)	What questions/concerns do I need answered before I can agree
with the group's plan of action? I have already asked for the following:
a.	 visibility into the vendor's system back-up and disaster
recovery processes;
b.	information about the application's ability to apply retention,
i.e. can it accommodate a retention such as 'AET + x years', and so on
(I know, these are questions that should have been answered prior to
purchasing the software, but you all know how that goes....);
c.	what processes and controls will be in place to ensure that the
data is accessible in a timely fashion when we need it (it is data
frequently used in litigation; as an aside here, I consulted with our
attorneys prior to making my recommendation, and they agreed with me, so
at some point I will be sitting down with the group and Legal and
negotiating some kind of agreement.)

Is there anything that I am missing here? What else should I be aware of
and bringing to the attention of my organization?

Thanks in advance for all your thoughts. I really do appreciate your
help.

Chris

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