Big bucket retention is intriguing, but may not be a practical solution.  In the U.S., at least, we face state and federal regulations that often are so specific that they require retention of specific types of reports (and supporting information in whatever form that support info. may exist).  If we're going to talk about big buckets, how "big" would be big?  Vendors in the SNIA crowd would love to skinny those retention buckets down to five at a maximum........ When you look at your retention schedule, can you imagine being able to skinny down those buckets to five?  Would that not invite retention of records for excessive periods of time, with the attendant risks associated with potential litigation, etc?
 
Big bucket approaches right now are quite theoretical...... and tend to fall apart once we examine the specifics in light of regulatory, statutory and litigation/risk concerns....... Perhaps a different approach might be considered..... an effort to establish (within regulatory bodies at U.S. federal and state levels) some "retention brackets", that require retention for periods of time that are more readily managed than the hodge-podge we have today.  
 
Any other thoughts on that as an approach?
 
Douglas P. Allen, CRM, CDIA+
 

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