Maricopa Community Colleges

Maricopa Steward

Backups, Archives and Disaster Recovery Plans

Although the format that a record exists in is never as important as the value it has for the organization, changes in business infrastructure have become necessary as electronic records have become more prevalent in daily operations. Even though the Arizona State Library, Archives and Public Records recognizes two mediums for records, paper and film, e-records comprise a large percentage of most business records. As technology rapidly evolves, having a systematic process in place to ensure that e-records are accessible is crucial to ensuring business stability.

The traditional view of an archive is a repository for those records in any medium that, because of their enduring historical or legal value, are retained permanently. However, in regards to electronic records, archiving also describes a systematic way to capture, hold, retrieve and manage business data for the duration of their life cycle. Content management software can help to do this. Many companies provide software solutions that automatically capture data (voice, images, software files, video, etc.) and then sort, index, and archive them in a central database. This is a much more systematic way of maintaining electronic records over time compared to a backup. A backup is a copy of information created as a precaution in case the original is lost or stolen. It’s usually maintained for a short period of time that may or may not reflect retention schedule timelines.

Electronic archives can be programmed to purge data based on the timelines set by the custodian of record to meet the standard records retention deadlines imposed by the Arizona State Library, Archives and Public Records. In the event of a pending or imminent legal action, audit or government investigation, holds can be put into the system which will suspend the retention timeline and maintain the specified records series until the hold is removed.

Disaster recovery plans become a key issue in regards to electronic records management (ERM) because there must be a plan in place to help the organization maintain business functions even during a crisis. ARMA International defines disaster recovery plan as a written and approved course of action to take after a disaster strikes that details how an organization will restore critical business functions and reclaim damaged or threatened records.

While Maricopa’s Enterprise Application and Data Administration Services (www.maricopa.edu/dba/) "assumes responsibility for the installation, configuration, management and tuning of delivered or in-house applications," we are in the process of developing a Records and Information Management policy to address all aspects of records and information management. In addition, Maricopa has recently adopted a Maricopa Emergency Management System (MEMS) to deal with critical issues should they arise.

Maricopa Steward, Fall 2010