Records Management and Disaster Preparedness

Picked up from a speech given by Pablo Beltran, Client Service Manager of DataSafe

Focus

When considering disaster recovery, there is a strong tendency to focus on information systems and facilities. These are obvious areas that need to be addressed in any recovery plan, yet just as important is the role that Hard Copy documents play. As an employee of DataSafe, I am acutely aware of the importance of Records Management, in a Disaster Preparedness context and otherwise, but it was really brought home to me when I heard the story of Florence Green, CEO of the Federal Employee CU in the Oklahoma Federal building. They had a disaster recovery plan in place. They were able to recover within 48 hours, truly amazing. Yet when she lectures about her experiences during this terrible tragedy, she tells that the IS/facilities recovery was the easy part. Her true challenge came later when she needed to get her hands on Human Resources information that had been obliterated in the blast. She had lost a large part of her staff and many of those that were not dead were in the hospital. She desperately needed to get her hands on insurance forms, beneficiary cards, next of kin information, well, you get the idea.

I hope to clearly communicate to you the importance of considering Hard Copy documents in disaster preparedness. I will do this by identifying two distinct classes of documents. These are:

- Vital documents, needed shortly following a disaster and which are frequently kept only in you facility, and
- Other documents necessary for long term recover.

I will give you specific tools for preparing each of these classes of documents for quick recovery enabling you to protect you business by protecting your information. I will also identify key services you should expect from you commercial records center in support of your disaster preparedness and recovery needs.

While a terrorist attack is something that is difficult to relate to, I am sure that we can all agree that a flood, fire, earthquake or other similar disaster is just as likely to limit our access to information as Florence Green experienced during the bombing.