The hardest part about picking an off site storage shred company or
storage vendor is separating the sales hype and the low ball bids from
the company's actual ability to execute to the contact.  Sales people
overpromise and generally don't have a clue as to how well their service
people deliver.  Keep the two functions separate and don't let anyone
talk you into discounts based on "package deals" unless they can
actually deliver.

Want to make sure you don't get taken for ride?  I've used just about
everybody including the "BIG THREE" (Iron Mountain, Recall and Shred-It)
and their third parties.  I've hired and fired dozens of companies over
the years.  Here is what I learned:

First, make sure you completely understand your business needs.  I have
more than 7,000 stores and can't afford to chase vendors down that don't
show up.  I have tiny back storage rooms, so my vendor has to be there
on the day that they say they are going to be there.  But you'd be
surprised how many vendors bill according to schedule and don't
reconcile service tickets at the end of the day.  Not everyone embraces
the fact that they are in the trucking and compliance monitoring
business at this point and many of the companies that I've terminated
were actually shocked at how poor their performance was.

Here are some helpful hints:
*Review the financial statement and make sure the company is stable and
solvent and how much money they invest in their infrastructure
improvements.
*Require at least $1M per occurrence/aggregate for Employers Liability,
General Liability, and Auto Liability
*Require at least $2M in Umbrella Coverage.
*Require drug tests and criminal background checks prior to hire dates
and random testing from time to time.
*Require mandatory drugs tests and background checks immediately
following "incidents" of risk.
*Require that employees be fully trained prior to handling your
organizations confidential information.
*Review all standard operating procedures and policies associated with
actual destruction or storage and retrieval processes.
*Review all escalation procedures for handling complaints, incident
responses, and security breaches.
*Require specific contractual compliance to standards, rules and
regulations important to your organization and industry.  They may
change and some vendors may not want to spend additional money to
comply.
*Require specific compliance to any contractual requirements obligated
by your organization's customers or vendors.
*Insist on contractual language that obligates your vendor to timely and
accurate reports, billing, and monitoring.
*Insist on contractual language that obligates the vendor to identify
and correct problems, issues, bugs, or "red flags" in its own process
for providing services.
*Insist on contractual language that the vendor provide proof for
services billed (i.e. a signed service ticket showing the shred driver
made it to the location or perhaps a unique bar code read).  Make it
clear that you are not obligated to pay if vendor has not maintained the
appropriate documentation.
*Insist on formal incident reporting procedures and service complaint
procedures and make that part of your contract.
*Make sure that the point of vendor custody of your material is clearly
defined (i.e. when the material leaves your front door or secured area).
*Ensure that material is attended and kept in secure conditions
throughout the lifecycle of the information.  Ensure that vehicles
transporting your information are locked down, containers or boxes are
not left unattended, and that information is promptly updated for
accurate inventories.
*Inspect the physical plants to insure that they are following their own
security procedures and reasonable technology in place to prevent
unauthorized access or unattended material.
*Ensure that the contact allows for witnessed destructions, timely
audits of the service tickets, etc.
*Require documentation of resolved customer and vendor service issues or
complaints.
*Contract should reflect acceptable periods of remediation as well as
relief for your organization of the service vendor breaches the contract
or fails to provide timely remedy for problems.
*Identify how well the vendor measures its performance  to reasonable
metrics and how it ensures that service is provided on regularly, timely
basis as required by our organization.  Don't buy into the accreditation
hypes...make them prove to your auditors EXACTLY how they are measuring
their own performance.  A lot of vendors claim Six Sigma...and can't
even tell when their drivers don't show up at shred locations or don't
show up to deliver a box because they don't reconcile tickets at the end
of the day.  They just wait for a customer to catch it and complain.
Meanwhile, you are being billed for a service you may or may not have
received.  


Just my 2 cents worth...because I've been there and done that.

Angie Fares, RHIA, CISA, CRM
Director, Corporate Records & Information
RadioShack Corporation
300 RadioShack Circle, WF4-130
Fort Worth, TX  76102
Phone: 817-415-4925
Fax: 817-415-9742
Email: [log in to unmask]



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