Contingency Planning & Disaster Recovery
Since September 11, 2001, the importance of Contingency Planning and Disaster-Recovery Recovery have come to the forefront of executives. While terrorist attacks per se may not be a major concern, vital information can be lost in manifold ways:
- Misfiled and Lost Documents
- Inadvertently Destroyed and Deleted Files
- Building Fires
- Water Damage
- Employee Intentional Destruction
- Industrial Espionage
Paper vs. Electronics
Although Contingency Planning has focused on information that exists in electronic form, paper-based data is equally important. The Securities and Exchange Commission has recently proposed (August, 2002) Business Continuity rules that include: "Each plan, however, must at a minimum, address: ...(1) Data back-up and recovery (hard copy and electronic)"
A major fire at the Duchess Anna Amalia Library in Weimar, Germany on September 3, 2004 destroyed 25,000 books and damaged an additional 40,000 volumes. Although a portion of the information was no doubt duplicated elsewhere, this tragedy highlights the importance of Disaster-Recovery recovery backup for valuable documents.
Have you estimated the value of your documents? For an example of a court case to assess value see Mobil Oil.
Since 1975, microMEDIA has been creating backup copies of essential information; initially in the form of microfilm, microfiche and aperture cards. In 1987, we began to convert to digital images of documents and today are almost entirely focused on electronic conversion services. We can help you manage "source" documents in paper, printed, graphic, blueprint and photographic or micrographic media. Our specialties include:
- Systems design and development
- Conversions performed onsite at client locations
- Integration with operational systems
- Web-based document management
- Redundant storage of client vital records
- Vendor independence - we interface with all imaging systems
On February 14, 2003, The U.S. General Accounting Office released a comprehensive study on Additional Actions Needed to Better Prepare Critical Financial Market Participants for Potential Terrorist Attacks. For the full 120 page report in PDF format click here. The Security Industries Association also issued a useful guide to Best Practices.
Return to microMEDIA's Home Page to see an overview of our services and capabilities.