What would I write on my epitaph?

When I was first asked this in college, I couldn’t have imagined that my life tod?y would be captured as digital records - or that these records would be a complete digital mess.

I’ve worked in the IT industry my entire life. Backups, security, 512K floppy disks, USB keys…all have contributed to a disorganized digital garage.

If you asked me to write my epitaph today, here’s what you’d get:

That is why I founded iForem - so that I can write this epitaph instead:

The digital age gave us the power to capture our life - but not to preserve it. I made iForem to ensure my digital legacy, and now I’m making it available for yours. We’ve created a digital trust that would cost tens of thousands of dollars for an individual to build on his or her own. You can submit your memories to a secure generational vault that can then be accessed by you and those you designate with easy-to-use software,

If you had an iForem vault, what would you save for your legacy? What protection will you bring to your company from compliance violations? How will you secure your digital future?

Join me as an iForem Service Beneficiary today for a small one-time fee - and see what iForem’s Perpetual Peace of Mind is all about.
 - Stephen Pieraldi - iForem, Redwood Shores - 2007

Written before iForem - but the truth is the same.  We need to rethink our data management.  Make iForem part of that new understanding.  From a personal legacy to compliance, today we are only accumulating our legacy and damaging our compliance.  Change to iForem and change your life.

“In the not-so-distant future, businesses and other organizations will see data management issues and costs spiraling out of control and beginning to damage efficiency and their bottom line. Inefficient retrieval, increased IT costs and network slowdowns are obvious. But what about increased power costs? Even compliance with mandatory CO2 emission limits? Data-dumping and cheap storage solutions are not the answer–improved information lifecycle management (ILM) is. The principles of ILM have been defined by the Storage Networking Industry Association (SNIA) and address the need to manage information from conception to disposal–based on its intrinsic value to the company. Turn to IBM for solutions that not only include hardware and software, but help convincing management that ILM is a critical issue that must be addressed now; assistance with the development of new policies and processes based on best practices; and decision support when making the d?termination about which data to keep and which to discard.”

toxic_tb.pdf
LINK TO IBM

Great topic we should all think about.

Then sign up for iForem to keep it!

No need to re-write history - just document it.  iForem is a new tool in the system to help a small business survive in a compliance drive world.  Read why here:

Data retention requirements depend on the type of data and the purposes for which it is used.  Unfortunately, there are thousands of possible requirements that can apply given those two factors.

Type and purpose condition the “external” constraints deriving from federal and state legal-regulatory requirements, from the standards of private certificatory bodies (e.g., JCAHO), and from contractual obligations to other parties with which/whom the organization has agreements.

Fiscal factors, such as tax laws and general auditing requirements, also condition data retention.  (This is particularly true for publicly-traded companies subject to Sarb-Ox.)  Public and private grantor agencies may set retention requirements for data related to projects they fund.

Last but by no means least, operational and other purely “internal” information needs of the organization affect retention requirements.  All the risks or benefits considered relevant by the organization’s stakeholders go into defining these internal standards.

In other words, it’s complex, and this page can only summarize.  If you have questions about the particular data retention requirements that apply to information under your control, contact your organization’s designated legal counsel.  If you’re not sure whom to approach at UM, contact the Office of the General Counsel.

Link to web site:

Question: What are the average industry standards for the length of time data/tape are stored off site? Do we keep a quarter, a month, etc. I understand it’s different based on your business but just as a general guideline…

he minimum records retention requirements regulations vary by state and by data type, but typically they range from three years to permanent. Legally, most businesses need to keep records long term. Broadly speaking, state and federal regulation require:

Business records: 7 years to permanent
Contracts: 7 years to permanent
Employee records: 3 years
Payroll records: 3 to 7 years

Permanent - Looks like iForem is the only real solution here.

Loughlin/Michaels Group Expands Portfolio and Moves Headquarters to
Accommodate Growth New Clients Include Technology Innovators Blue Coat
Systems, FireEye and iForem

Founder Donna Michaels is a seasoned veteran known for her
expertise in building mindshare and creating momentum for emerging
companies, designing effective and strategic public relations programs
that drive visibility from start-up mode to market leadership. Prior
to founding Loughlin/Michaels Group, Michaels achieved notable success
leading public relations for Exodus Communications, NetManage,
NetScaler, Telebit, RealNames and Concentric Network (XO
Communications).

Security at iForem is security from Human Error. 

NEW YORK - Three spreadsheets containing more than 5,000 Social Security numbers and other personal details about customers of ABN Amro Mortgage Group were inadvertently leaked over an online file-sharing network by a former employee.

GoSmart, Inc. uses iForem to avoid this kind of problem with our enterprise grade secure document storage.

There are so many great ways to do this.  But all of them require you to save it somewhere.  We all know what a time capsule is.  Think of iForem as your own personal time capsule.  But if you want to publish a book, after you saved your data for life with iForem, check out this company Modern Memoirs, inc.

They make a great point about why books are so good - but they have not seen iForem yet :-)  Lets see if this pages changes after our call today.

Videos & CD-ROMs (How long do things last?)

500 years vs. 20 years

We admit the following: We strongly favor the book over electronic and magnetic media. There are many reasons for this, but the basic one is the book’s astonishing longevity, quality, and accessibility (it’s user-friendly).

On a deeper level, we believe that paper and ink have a singular place in the world because of their beauty and simplicity. The subtle effects of holding and reading a book contribute to a different state of mind — the “reading state”, it is now called. It is a place of creative contemplation that we aim to support.

Now, on to specifics: According to a report from the Council on Library and Information Resources, the following statistics can be compared to the fact that non-acidic buffered paper lasts up to 500 years:

– videotapes are unlikely to last 20 years, even under ideal storage conditions

– videotapes can become archivally unreliable after 5 years

– CD-ROMs are reliable for 10 years or less

– the hardware and software needed to use CD-ROMs become obsolete within 5 years

Having said that, we also want to appreciate the way professionally prepared videos can show speech patterns, body language, and ambience. CD-ROMs? Well, they seem to store about as much information as a medium-size book with 30 photographs, but they do offer the service of allowing the viewer to access links to the web.

However, according to a September 1, 2003 report in PC-Active, a Dutch magazine, recent Dutch tests suggest that although some CD manufacturers claim that their CDs will last up to a century, “the CD-R is the wrong medium to store data files, music, or photos for posterity.” The tests found that a significant number of CD-ROMs degraded even under normal conditions (room temperature, no sunlight) within months and projected that even better quality CDs will degrade sooner than manufacturers’ projections.

Thus, with at least a modicum of confidence in the test of time, we believe that offset-printed books on acid-free paper are the only sure medium other than carved stone, metal, or space-age ceramics. Videos and CDs are a wonderful and appropriate accompaniment, however, and we are pleased to work with selected peers to provide clients with videos or CDs at competitive prices if they request it.

Or we think iForem is also pretty darn good. and you don’t have to pay for reprints

Sarbanes-Oxley Has Major Impact on Electronic Evidence

NEW RETENTION REQUIREMENTS

Sarbanes-Oxley imposes new requirements on public companies and their accounting and auditing teams with regard to the retention and destruction of certain financial records. There are three provisions that deal with electronic documents and should be of concern to corporations:

• Document alteration or destruction. Section 802 of the act amends the federal obstruction-of-justice statute by adding two new offenses. First, people who knowingly alter, destroy, mutilate, conceal or falsify any document or tangible object with the intent to impede, obstruct or influence proceedings involving federal agencies or bankruptcy proceedings may be fined, imprisoned up to 20 years or both.

• Mandatory document retention. Second, § 802 directs accountants to maintain certain corporate audit records or to review work papers for a period of five years from the end of the fiscal period during which the audit or review was concluded. It also directs the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to promulgate, within 180 days, any necessary rules and regulations relating to the retention of relevant records from an audit or review. This section makes it unlawful knowingly and willfully to violate these new provisions — including any rules and regulations promulgated by the SEC — and imposes fines, a maximum term of 10 years’ imprisonment or both.

• Obstruction of justice. Section 1102 expands the obstruction-of-justice statute that prohibits tampering with witnesses. Now acting or attempting “corruptly” to alter or destroy a record or other object “with the intent to impair the object’s integrity or availability for use in an official proceeding” is punishable with fines and/or imprisonment of up to 20 years. 

Keep it simple is our motto.