Carolyn,

My thoughts...I have a different view on backup tapes. (I'd be curious
to hear form others). I view backup media as the ESI storage location,
similar to a box, room, or building associated with paper records.

During the records inventory and schedule development I identify the
location of each records series during its life. In the schedule, the
media and location of the record series are noted in the and used to
determine the existent of additional copies for retention purposes.

IT typically 'backup' data based on location and format. This is
typically an issue when applying a retention and disposition plan
because the backups contain many unrelated records.

Pro-active IT staffs will engage the RM team to help organization and
sort the record into buckets that can be isolated to specific media
sets. This process however has its own set of difficulties because a
single series may be present in several physical locations that make
it hard to implement with the backup system.

Of all the clients I have dealt with, I have never run into a RM team
that was responsible for the backup rotation schedules (maybe others
on the ListSrv have).

There are two very distinct set of objectives between the two
departments and integrating RM into DR strategy I believe would cause
some unnecessary complications.

I do believe it is the responsibility of the RM team to pass
requirements (RM policy, inventory, schedule,etc) for records handling
to the IT department and it is there responsibility to develop and
operate systems that adhere to those guidelines and polices.

As far as the new FRCP...I don't see how any of the changes would
affect this decision.

Robert


On 8/15/07, Carolyn Mariani <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Hello everyone.  I haven't been a subscriber to this listserv since I left my
> position as Records Manager for Revlon in 1999.  After a stint consulting and
> then as an outsourced records manager for a law firm in NYC, I found my way
> back home to Connecticut at a privately held pharmaceutical company.  With my
> commute changed from 2 hrs to 30 minutes my quality of life is certainly
> better.  Hopefully my life expectancy has increased too.
>
> Anyway, I do have a question, and it deals with establishing a record series
> for "backup tapes" on a company's records retention schedule.  Over the years
> I developed a belief that backup tapes (in general and not linked to any
> specific content) should not be categorized as a record series because they
> are objects of a process (system recovery).  When a retention period is
> assigned, it is done to support that process rather than based on the content
> of the information.  I also think that the whole process should be controlled
> by the IS/IT group responsible for the process.  That includes contracting
> with a vendor to pick-up, store, rotate, deliver and destroy the tapes as
> required.
>
> I have been in several discussions lately where this philosophy is being
> called into question.  That backup tapes, even though assigned a short
> retention period, should appear on the records retention schedule, and that
> the corporate records management group should take responsibility for sending
> them to storage and retrieving and rotating them.  The main driver is that RM
> group has staff and IT doesn't.  This is new to me and I would like to find
> out what other companies are doing.  What is the best practice today?  Do the
> revisions to the FRCP change things?  I have tried to find some instructions
> / best practices to give to IT for managing this process but haven't been
> lucky.
>
> I will be happy to take this discussion offline if necessary.  I am happy to
> know that this listserv is still going strong after all these years!
>
>
> Carolyn A. Mariani
> Sr. Associate Director, Information Management
> Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
> 900 Ridgebury Road
> Ridgefield, CT 06877
> 203-798-4424
> [log in to unmask]
>
>
>
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-- 
Robert Kleppen
Big Imperative - Consultant
PH:206-979-3365
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