As I said a week ago, they use the language to infer something that is not really there. This is not to say that some Fortune 500 companies do install a vault around their Data Center or Server Vault.  We have been doing that for years.  But an Enterprise Vault summons to mind a vision of your data in a vault, not just some servers in a warehouse.

Why not call it Computer Storage Warehouse???  Records Managers should make sure that management understands what they really get from vendors.  Through the years we have heard "The Click of Death" and now see Clouds that evaporate with your data inside them.

A new program out there is to provide a Class 125 Vault Chamber that is designed as a data center and clients can rent space for their server or multiple servers or an entire data center.  They are in fact in a vault.  Ask a few questions and all of a sudden you look smart and the IT guy looks like he did not do his homework.

A Vault is a very specifically defined thing.  This is not like the T Shirt that proclaims "World's Greatest Dad!!" where we all know it is tongue in cheek. People are trying to deceive IT and IT is so busy they don't stop to ask or don't care.

As your mind says "Who Cares?" let me give an example that illustrates why it matters. In several recent fires in records storage warehouses, hundreds and hundreds of thousands of xrays and mammograms, CAT Scans, etc were destroyed.  I talked with a radiologist about what losing these files means in terms of health and safety.

He said  "For women over 40, there is a statistical amount of breast cancer that develops on a yearly basis. Let's say it is 2,000 women develop new tumors in the given year.  The first comparison is to this year's mammogram versus last year's and the year before that. Losing mammograms in a fire takes away the comparative base. This could result in very expensive testing if the health care plan allows it or more likely in England and other places, they will just wait to rebuild the base of past mammograms. Since we know breast cancer is very invasive and have death rates in a formula, you can calculate just how many women will die due to a loss of mammograms. You can calculate how many gross mastectomies will result."

Recently a records center fire occurred in New Mexico for a firm that stored medical records.  If you live in that city, you should be heading to your doctor. See if you are affected.  What did you lose that you paid for and might like to reference.

When people refer to their product ads a vault, do you ask "How do you define vault?"  If you are storing computer media in the chamber or microfilm or motion picture film, is the vault rated for that?  Ask "Could you send me over your certification statement from your engineer attesting that level of protection?"

As a records manager, you should be proactive and demonstrate that all these courses that you attend at ARMA mean something in day to day business.

A certain records manager from the City that never sleeps (nameless ) recently put out a bid and it was so well defined that some in the industry just walked away.  They knew that they could not bluff that RM.  It was nice to witness.  That should be everyone's goal as a records manager.  Be respected for your knowledge base.

Hugh Smith
FIRELOCK Fireproof Modular Vaults
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(610)  756-4440    Fax (610)  756-4134
WWW.FIRELOCK.COM

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