Information Disaster Plan

Creation and maintenance of an information management disaster plan is a never-ending task. While it can be cumbersome, hard to obtain buy-in, and require an upfront cost, it is one of the most important documents that your office can create. Protecting your information is protecting your assets. You will be able to continue operations and…

Identifying and Protecting Essential Records

Picture this: After a seventh consecutive day of raining, there are flood warnings for the surrounding area—a common problem for central Texas— and your government building is in the flood zone.  Does work need to carry on regardless of the conditions? How do you ensure business continues? Imagine your office building has a suspected gas leak…

ARMA Houston 2014: Vital Records and Business Continuity

This is a part of a series of recaps from the 2014 ARMA Houston conference. Judy Sitton, CRM, of PacoTech, Inc. led a wonderful discussion on vital records at the ARMA Houston 2014 conference. The discussion started with an admission that vital records mean something different to corporations than they do to governments. In fact,…

What Are Essential Records?

Essential records, also known as vital records or mission-critical records, are the records necessary for responding to an emergency or disaster; necessary to resume or continue operations; that protect the health, safety, property, and rights of residents/citizens; that would require an enormous amount of resources to reconstruct; and that document the history of communities and…

Hurricane Season Records Preparation

We are entering hurricane season and it is a good time to do a risk assessment and analysis of your work area and records storage area regarding your records and information.  You’ll be primarily dealing with natural threats or hazards.  Look at environmental and physical factors.  Excessive temperature and humidity can easily and quickly damage…