On Mon, Aug 18, 2014 at 6:48 AM, Frederic Grevin <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> Deanna commented:  <I'm not sure how the bullet below is a "problem." -
> Backed-up emails are not retained indefinitely. >
>
> In addition, we're back to the basics:  backup systems are NOT email
> management systems.
>

It's the same old saw... every time these kind of things come up is the IT
vs RM vocabulary and practices issues.

All throughout this IRS e-mail debacle the comments have been coming
chiefly from IT, even though its' NARA who is puffing their chest and
bristling about what "should have been done" and placing blame about "who
didn't do their job" and even "how to prevent this from happening again".

When I hear things like backups are the answer to not losing e-mail, I know
that's coming from IT... because on the RM side of things, we KNOW backups
are designed to restore systems in the event of a catastrophic failure.
Unless a system is mirrored or in some other manner creating asynchronous
backups, if you have a failure, a backup will only contain whatever existed
the last time it was run, so you will lose anything done between the backup
and the failure.

In the Federal environment, 36CFR (which NARA controls) clearly states if
the e-mail is a record, you move it OUT of the native application and into
an ERMS, unless it is of 'transitory' retention value (180 or fewer days)
THEN you can leave it in the native application.  And depending on the
level of the official, the retention of e-mail RECORDS MAY be permanent,
irrespective of the content.  So, Agencies KNOW what their obligations are;
NARA knows what to look for, but they seldom do it.  It's expensive to
implement, train, manage and support the applications required to comply
with the regulations.  And it's NOT IMPOSSIBLE, and if set up and done
properly, in the long run, it would likely be less expensive (and more
effective) to run.

In private industry, it's no less expensive and unless you're heavily
regulated, you don't have the same requirements to comply with... but there
are many benefits to properly managing your e-mail.

Larry
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-- 


*Lawrence J. Medina Danville, CARIM Professional since 1972*

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