Seven Steps to Safeguard Mission-Critical Documents & Data
GREENWOOD VILLAGE, Colo.—Information is the life blood of any successful business. In light of recent catastrophic disasters such as Hurricane Katrina, Hurricane Rita and tornadoes in the Midwest, D2Xchange, LLC, a full-service document management and imaging company, reminds companies of seven steps they can take to safeguard mission-critical documents, forms and data:
- As often as possible, convert paper, microfilm, microfiche and aperture cards to electronic formats.
- Establish—either an in-house or through an outsourced data management company—an indexing data management process.
- Establish an indexing and data extraction process, determining who has access when, and who is initially “on call” in the event of a disaster.
- Establish a secure storage device and backup media. As much as is possible, the storage device (server) should be kept in a locked, fireproof and flood-safe room. Likewise, backup media should be kept in a fireproof safe.
- Keep at least two current copies of all backup media. For example, if the home office is in New Orleans or Houston, have backup stored in Denver or Chicago—two geographically diverse locations.
- Always store one copy of backup media on an alternative, off-site and secure server.
- Assure you have a disaster recovery plan in place that you regularly revisit and update.