Mitigating Unnecessary Risk:

Vital Records Management and Preservation

Now that most process-intensive companies have adopted business continuity planning as standard practice, commercial infrastructure is monumentally more secure than it was even just five years ago. While few people welcome calamities (hackers, earthquakes etc.) exposed vulnerabilities have driven the smartest companies to finally heed the advice which their IT departments have offered for at least the last dozen years: turn these vulnerabilities into opportunities for competitive and strategic process improvements. However where infrastructure protection now ranks as a key measure of enterprise strength, preservation of Vital Records (protection of what we might call infostructure) continues in many places to go neglected, often leaving important and irreplaceable records unnecessarily exposed to damage or loss.

In the past, businesses tended to confine Vital Records to the domain of regulatory compliance and indeed, in an increasingly complex regulatory environment the profile of compliance matters has risen ever higher. But beyond compliance, leading companies are also beginning to assess the importance of Vital Records in their business continuity strategies, as well with respect to their competitive position in client services and client relations. An enterprise simply cannot operate optimally unless all its Vital Records are reliably and readily accessible. Among today’s available protections, digital imaging stands as one of most appealing options which naturally, has meant good things for IPS. In recent months this rising awareness and our 15 year reputation have earned us Vital Records projects with numerous top mutual insurance companies and financial service firms.

The first and perhaps most critical step in any Vital Records project is simply identifying which records qualify as “vital” within a particular organization. The U.S. National Archives & Records Administration (NARAS) classifies its Vital Records into two broad types: 1) those needed to “...conduct business under emergency operating conditions; and 2) those needed to “...protect the legal and financial rights of the Federal Government and the people it serves.” These general guidelines are also applicable across a wide range of industries. For companies with existing business continuity policies, the identification process can commence somewhat more smoothly since a records risk assessment can be modeled after their existing infrastructure risk assessment, using similar criteria and incorporating subsequent findings. The most beneficial assessments will expose previously undetected vulnerabilities and thereby offer opportunities to build enterprise strength.

Once a company’s Vital Records are clearly identified, strategies for their preservation, indexing and storage can be addressed. IPS has assisted a multitude clients in every stage of this process and while the task may at first appear daunting, this characterizes the environment in which we operate daily, for as IPS President & CEO Gregory Bartels often likes to remind everyone at IPS “...every record we process is a Vital Record.”

Sources

Kahn, Randolph A., & Blair, B.T. (2004). Information Nation: Seven Keys to Information Management Compliance. Silver Spring, MD: AIIM publications.

Lee, Jin J., (2005). The Compliance Imperative: Managing Record Retention in a Rapidly Changing Regulatory Environment [Electronic version]. Retrieved December 28, 2005 from http://www.dmreview.com/editorial/dmreview/print_action.cfm?articleId=1028738.

The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration. (1999). Vital Records and Records Disaster Mitigation and Recovery: An Instructional Guide [Web Edition]. Retrieved 12/15/05 from http:www.archives.gov/recordsmgmt/vital-records/index.html

IPS Moves to New Expanded Facility

In December 2005 IPS completed its move from our previous location at 600 Meadowlands Parkway to a new and better situated facility at 150 Meadowlands Parkway. Based on a second-generation design, the new expanded facility offers a 50% increase in processing capacity. New features include: increased office and production space, upgraded security, upgraded fire protection systems, a newly upgraded data center, all new file and production servers, a new high-speed network, as well as new satellite links to ImageServ™, IPS’ online document repository. The design plan also includes allowances for future expansion so IPS clients can expect improved services and increased functionality both now, as well as into the future.