This question is plaguing many organizations and the question and
consideration of this is not confined to newbies.

There are many opportunities here to "bridge the gap" between RIM and IT
by opening discussions and discussing mutual concerns.  This is
happening at my organization and is providing a great impetus for
program improvements.

To get good up-to-date expert opinion on this topic, let me recommend a
couple of resources:

ARMA webinars - free to members.
This week is part two of a 3 part webinar that covers issues related to
e-Discovery Risk.  Unfortunately, the registration deadline is already
past.  However, part 3 - Litigation Preparedness for E-Discovery:
Auditing Your Records Management Program is open for registration until
Sunday, August 26, 2007 and can be viewed from Monday, August 27, 2007 -
Tuesday, September 4, 2007 with a live teleconference:12:00 p.m. (CT),
Tuesday, September 4, 2007.  Even without the first 2 parts, this
webinar might be worth a 45 minute investment - BTW, you get CRM credit
as well. These seminars cover the risk of using backup tape for anything
other than disaster recovery.  

New book - "Records Management - Making the Transition from Paper to
Electronic", by David O. Stephens.
He posits that RIM has a role in mitigating risk from loss of
information and lists several areas for assistance.  Then, he goes on to
elaborate about the common misunderstanding between the terms data
backup and data archiving.

His definitions:
Data archiving - migration of data from online processing to near-line
or off-line storage systems for purposes of providing for its long-term
retention on storage media suitable for that purpose.
Data backup - making a copy, at regular, scheduled intervals, of data
residing on primary, online storage devices.  The data is copied or
backed up to secondary media for purposes of off-line, offsite security
storage.  The intent of data backup routines is to provide the
capability of recovering data when online processing is interrupted or
when a data loss of any cause occurs.

If the tapes represent data that is truly archived, then the function is
retention of records and thus needs to be handled on the retention
schedule.  If it is truly "backup tapes" for disaster recovery, the
tapes should be recycled on a regular basis and do not need to be listed
on a schedule.  BUT, in many if not most organization, the two genres
are not so clearly delineated and therefore, will have to be handled in
a way to get the best possible management out of a risky situation.

Mary Hilliard, CRM

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