Hi Nolene, 

I certainly don't think it is any less secure than anything else...frankly,
if someone breaks into your network, even as important as bank statements
and payroll are, I submit that you'd have far greater security issues to
worry about.

WRT the attorney's position, think of the time, trouble, and energy required
to get a duplicate copy of the CD from the original vendor - and of course
they may have a different retention than you do for similar data. 

I think that uploading the CDs is reasonable for another reason: accessing
information on CDs is slow. And with CDs being in a binder or file drawer,
access is even slower. Upload the stuff on the CDs to magnetic access - and
consider getting rid of the CDs. If you want to make a backup to send
offsite, you can group things with like retention on the CD, encrypt it,
etc. (Yes, those of you who know me know that I'm not a big fan of
encryption. The differences here are that 1. it's a disaster
recovery/continuity/convenience copy and if it's lost it's not irreplaceable
assuming the loss is discovered promptly 2. if it is lost there is very
little exposure to the organization because the data is encrypted). 

Not sure how large an organization you are, but you don't have to be very
big to get big benefits from EDMS, ERMS, and the rest of the document
technologies. If you want any additional info feel free to contact me or
someone more local to you - there are lots of us out here that live,
breathe, and sleep EDMS. :)

Regards, 

Jesse Wilkins
CDIA+, edp, LIT, ICP, ermm, ecmm
J Wilkins & Associates
[log in to unmask]
blog: http://informata.blogspot.com
(303) 574-1455 office
(303) 484-4142 fax

 
 
My knee jerk reaction was that it would be no less secure than anything
else on our network and perhaps more secure than the notebook holding
the CDs in the desk drawer or file cabinet, that sending copies of CDs
to "storage" would not be good for the CDs unless we used
environmentally controlled storage (these records have a 10 year
retention -- not very long, but long enough, in my mind, to be aware of
degradation), and that it would be inefficient to manage since only one
or two CDs would be eligible for destruction each year. My second
reaction was that to rely on a vendor to provide backups is not a great
idea -- what is the vendor's responsibility ($1.00 per box?), what is
our exposure if it's lost, etc.
 
What are other folks doing with records provided on CDs. BTW, we do not
have an EDMS in place.
 
Nolene
 
Nolene Sherman | Director of Records Management | Standard Pacific Homes
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