Before I went to Ireland I set up some time to meet with records 
managers over there. I even asked if we had any Listserv members in 
Ireland. I wished to visit with them and compare technologies.   One 
member of our Listserv came over from London and it was great meeting 
him and talking about those things I know about and those things he 
knew about. I admit I did not know how advanced Ireland was and I found 
a similar situation with a company in Scotland.  I always learn things 
when I travel.

It's funny, the older I get, the dumber I feel.  But on the plus side, 
the older my kids get, the smarter I look.  So, I have a happy 
tradeoff.

What I found out was that Filestore in Dublin,  Kilkenny and Belfast 
are not only meeting American technologies in some areas but surpassing 
it in many other areas. They used Oneil for their tracking software and 
another respected company in Scotland used DHS Total Recall, so once 
again the global economy is at work as  American products are 
incorporated into the technology solution. Maybe these software 
companies outsource their programming to India? But Filestore's  method 
of incorporating their tracking software into their quality assurance 
to the client was nice to see.  Their accuracy rate was amazing.

FIRELOCK uses a variety of  product  manufacturers in Texas, Mexico, 
Indiana, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and Canada so I see global 
specialties in our own business.  But that doesn't mean that I don't  
have concerns for the internal technology let out of the bag in a 
market I can't use American courts to control.  But if they steal 
FIRELOCK technology, my family and our employees would be hurt.  But 
when entire data bases of financial data are serviced overseas, it 
worries me.  Identity Theft and its associated effects is now a hundred 
billion dollar nightmare.  What a drain on our society!  How do we 
react?  Where is this money going?  Some is funding terrorism.

I think that this rush to take programming and software development out 
of the country is a concern to our financial stability.  A fine equal 
to two years salary in India is not equivalent to some of the fines 
imposed on some of the pharmaceuticals of $500 million, $150 million, 
$35 million and the fine imposed on Bank of America a while back of $10 
million.  In one case, it turned out it was cheaper to pay the fine 
than fix the problem. Losing control of vital data (vital records) is a 
true catastrophe!

If an American CEO and CFO can go to prison for 10 years, as is 
possible under SOX and they have no real understanding of the 
implications of this large scale outsourcing, then this is an issue of 
concern. How does a records manager play a role here?  Do the companies 
that perform this work have solid records management programs?  
Remember when ISO 9000 pushed companies to use other companies that 
were also ISO Certified.  This is becoming an issue with SOX.  SOX was 
as big a concern in Ireland as it is over here?  I found that amazing.

Several members of the List sent me emails poking fun at me about 
Gerard's post and one said:

> Gerard ripped three people in just three sentences!   Wow...	
>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Gerard Nicol [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
>>
>> Larry, The fact that you learn things from Hugh is more a reflection 
>> of your
>> own level of knowledge than anything else.
>>
>> Personally, I do not have to go to Ireland or hear of Hugh's visit to
>> know that the Irish are not backward.
>>
>> The fact that Hugh is allowed to shamelessly push his product on this
>> list only reflects poorly on the list administrator. Any sarcasm is a
>> reflection of my contempt for this fact.
>>
>> Gerard

In defense of Larry, he was only being a friend by sticking up for me.  
Larry and I both know that in the knowledge exchange I am always in his 
debt. In defense of Peter, I post too often for him to censor all my 
posts. In defense of the Irish I never said they were backward, my 
comments were to the contrary.  I learned a great deal at Filestores.  
They are nice people with great integrity and their rapid growth is 
reflective of this and their strong grasp on technology.

At the Listserve party I will buy a drink for anyone that I offended.  
:~)  (Offer not valid in Texas.)


Hugh Smith
FIRELOCK Fireproof Modular Vaults
[log in to unmask]
(610)  756-4440    Fax (610)  756-4134
WWW.FIRELOCK.COM

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