Application Solutions: Vital Records
The Access You Want, the Security You Need
VITAL RECORDS
Vital records represent some of a firm’s most valuable document assets. And managing the collection, tracing, duplication and storage of these records, as well as providing easy and secure access, presents a tremendous challenge.
For some organizations, business continuity and preservation requirements specify that copies be maintained on alternative media for rapid access for up to 100 years. Vital records — clinical studies, production reports, research information, insurance policies — for regulated industries, such as pharmaceutical, healthcare, financial and energy, face especially stringent requirements.
These business requirements create several operational challenges:
- Climate-controlled protection of hardcopy records to ensure preservation and maintain confidentiality.
- Access to working copies of the original documents without an increase in cost or inadvertent disclosures.
- Secure management of large volumes of active records in a distributed environment.
- Management of multiple vendors for collection, transportation, conversion and storage.
- Conversion of image copies to microfilm and then ensuring safe, secure, environmentally controlled storage.
Gain from our experience
Iron Mountain’s vital records management solutions provide a comprehensive approach to storing and accessing your vital records. We leverage industryleading technology, best practices and a rigorous chain of custody to ensure that your vital records are secure and that access is restricted to authorized employees only.
We provide special expertise in managing hybrid records (paper, digital and microfilm). Our conversion services can help you generate the necessary electronic copies of your company’s vital records, with the option to store electronic versions and create microfilm copies for long-term retention.
Iron Mountain can help you meet regulatory and business requirements by using some or all of these services:
- Assistance in identifying vital records
- Onsite collection and indexing of records
- Transportation to a secure Iron Mountain records center
- Digital conversion and categorization of records
- Secure transmittal of digital images
- Writing of records to microfilm for long-term preservation
- Storage of original records and film in a climate-controlled Iron Mountain records center(s) to ensure preservation
- Ingestion of the images to the Iron Mountain Digital Record Center® for Images or delivery to customer document management system
Frequently Asked Questions
Q. How do I determine if a record is a vital record?
A. Vital records are records that are necessary to ensure the continuity of an organization in the event of disasters or business interruptions. These records protect the legal and financial position of the organization.
Q. What security does Iron Mountain offer my vital records?
A. For maximum security, your vital records can be stored in one of our underground locations. These facilities are guarded 24 hours a day, affording an extremely high level of facility security for vital records storage.
Electronic copies of vital records — including all images and metadata — are maintained 220 feet below ground in our secure facility in Pennsylvania, which provides high availability by utilizing multiple active power and cooling distribution paths and redundant components for a 99.982% uptime. For backup and disaster recovery purposes, data is made available in another secure underground facility 600 miles from our primary location.
For vital records stored in above-ground facilities, you may choose the extra protection of a private vault, which offers strict access, climate and humidity controls. These storage areas for non-paper records typically carry a two-hour (four-hour in many cases) fire rating.
Q. We only have one copy of our vital documents. How can you assure appropriate measures will be taken so there is not a break in the chain of custody?
A. Iron Mountain can ensure the chain of custody for all activities pertaining to these highly valued assets by adopting a records management program designed to meet your special needs. This program includes InControl®, a solution which combines sophisticated security measures, real-time tracking and an auditable chain of custody of your assets to deliver a higher standard of information protection.
745 Atlantic Avenue Boston, MA 02111 800 899 IRON
AbOuT IROn mOunTAIn Iron Mountain Incorporated (NYSE: IRM) provides information management services that help organizations lower the costs, risks and inefficiencies of managing their physical and digital data. Founded in 1951, Iron Mountain manages billions of information assets, including backup and archival data, electronic records, document imaging, business records, secure shredding, and more, for organizations around the world. Visit the Company Web site at www.ironmountain.com for more information.