How to persuade the management to extend the backup retention?

[Hanry Zhou]

How to persuade the management to extend the backup retention?

Currently, the backup policy in placed is 13 months as longest retention length we will keep.
However, very often we have customer request asking longer retention time, some need 36 months, and
Some even up to 6 years. The management don’t want to extend the retention, what I should say to ask them to extend it?

[Kent Ostby]

Well, in one sense, its their call since they pay for it.

What I would do is to document as best you can, the requests that have common in at prior times.

If these are "customers" who you have regular access to, I would go back to them and ask them what the value of the backup was to them.

The other thing would be to come up with alternatives.

Maybe you can't keep everything for a longer period of time, but maybe there is some key data that users have requested in the past that could be backed up seperately and stored for a longer period of time.

Best regards,

Oz

[A. Clay Stephenson]

I would approach it like this. Let those customers who are requesting these long retention times pay for the extra media, storage, and labor. One thing to consider when looking at extended retention times is the ability to restore that data. Will you even have compatible hardware 6 years later? Will your software still be able to read it? You have to balance cost, practicality, and feasibility against the value of the data.
In some cases, you may be contracturally obligated to retain the data.

[Patrick Wallek]

Depending on your location, there may also be laws dictating some backup retention. If you are in the USA, then Sarbanes-Oxley, HIPAA requirements and IRS requirements may govern your retention policies.

[Rick Garland]

IRS says 7 yrs for tax purposes.

If they cannot produce info for an audit for the year end 6 yrs ago, who pays the penalties?

[V. Nyga]

Hi,

is the backup maybe required by law?
Then I should inform management and keep a copy by myself.
Otherwise/And I would send the customers (the customer also is 'the king') to the management.
On a 'high level' they can ask your management how the backup policy is and they can ask for more.

If they say 'no' to the customer, well then they have the wrong job :-)

Volkmar

[Jan van den Ende]

Clay,


One thing to consider when looking at extended retention times is the ability to restore that data. Will you even have compatible hardware 6 years later? Will your software still be able to read it?


I kind of hope you do not mean this seriously?

To date my personal record is to have to re-load the control program of a traffic lights configuration that was delivered 10.5 years before and needed some minor tweeking.

And yes, this kind of retention times DOES imply controlled-condition storage, and should imply tape refreshment about every 5 years. (the latter was not done at that time, but the trouble we had rstoring triggered it being immediately implemented).

Compatible hardware? Come on, barring Wintel stuff, how many 10+ years systems are still running? We _ARE_ talking serious systems, not toys!

Compatible software? Should serious software not be upwards compatible?

And that is "just only" customer support (btw, why do/how can commercial companies exist? Isn't that little detail called "customer"?).

Others have allready mentioned legal issues.
Well, in the Netherlands you are obliged to be able to PRODUCE and RE-PRODUCE your accounting information, and, if by software, PROVE it was THE VERY SAME SOFTWARE used to produce your calculation results from your inputs. Up till seven years after.


I think Hanry is entirely right, and his management irresponsible.

Indeed, Hanry, as suggested before: try to get customer support (policy advice: without scaring them!), and find out about your local legal demands.

But, battles with management tend to imply that you ARE in the underdog position. Take good care, and "cover your ass".

I wish you lots of good luck, because I fear you might need it :-(

Anyway,

keep smiling,

Proost.

Have one on me.

Jan