Colleen

While not containing specific contract clauses, the National Archives of
Australia publication "Records issues for outsourcing" contains a lot of
useful advice on what to include in contracts. It is available at
http://www.naa.gov.au/records-management/keep-destroy-transfer/authoriti
es/GDAs/GDA-25.aspx

Don't let the fact that it is aimed at an Australian Commonwealth
Government audience put you off, the issues are very similar for
everyone.

Disclaimer: I wrote this publication (albeit some time ago).

John Lovejoy
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My views are expressed, no one elses.

-----Original Message-----
From: Colleen Westerlund [mailto:[log in to unmask]] 
Sent: Thursday, July 17, 2008 12:07 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [RM] Boilerplate Contract Language for Outsourced Records

Hi all,

I am looking for ideas for boilerplate contract language for vendors
that
maintain client records on their systems.  Does anyone work for an
organization that has outsourced one of its functions and the records
for
that function now reside on the vendor's systems and are accessed via a
web
portal by the client?  If so, how did you negotiate record retention
with
the vendor?  Is this spelled out in the contract?  Do you use standard
language in your contracts in regards to the vendor's responsibilities
in
the maintenance and disposition of records they hold for your
organization?


What is the standard practice for these records?  Do you require records
to
be returned to you at some point in the lifecycle, or do you require the
vendor to destroy records following your retention schedule and
sign-off?
  How does the vendor provide proof of destruction?  Are the records
backed
up on the client's systems periodically?  Do you require the vendor to
maintain inactive records to the point of migrating records to ensure
they
are readable over time?  What happens to the records if the vendor -
client
relationship ends?  What is your experience with vendors when they
sunset
their systems and your electronic records are no longer readable?

 Thank you in advance,

Colleen Westerlund

Electronic Records Administrator

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