Comments on: Un-Intel-igent Email Retention http://storagemojo.com/2007/03/14/un-intel-igent-email-retention/ Data storage info & analysis Wed, 09 Jul 2008 12:30:18 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5.1 By: Robin Harris http://storagemojo.com/2007/03/14/un-intel-igent-email-retention/#comment-39530 Robin Harris Sun, 18 Mar 2007 02:16:59 +0000 http://storagemojo.com/?p=400#comment-39530 Robert, Thanks for the pointer to Bill Inmon's work. Interesting stuff. I believe that within ten years a variety of forces will require that companies keep virtually all of their information for at least ten years. While I am no fan of Big Brother, companies have another option: train employees on danger areas such as anti-trust, harassment, financial reporting and then audit for compliance. Government regulation is a bigger concern in Great Britain than it is here. Lawsuits dig up much more dirt here. Yet the idea that if we get rid of information we get rid of culpability is at the very least morally flawed. If it appears a company has engaged in a concerted effort to destroy relevant information then trial judges will often tell juries to make an "adverse inference" that the destroyed data was damaging - nearly equivalent to a guilty verdict. Corporations are a legal fiction: immortal "persons" capable of amassing huge power. Why shouldn't they be held to a higher standard than us garden-variety mortals? Robin Robert,

Thanks for the pointer to Bill Inmon’s work. Interesting stuff.

I believe that within ten years a variety of forces will require that companies keep virtually all of their information for at least ten years. While I am no fan of Big Brother, companies have another option: train employees on danger areas such as anti-trust, harassment, financial reporting and then audit for compliance.

Government regulation is a bigger concern in Great Britain than it is here. Lawsuits dig up much more dirt here. Yet the idea that if we get rid of information we get rid of culpability is at the very least morally flawed. If it appears a company has engaged in a concerted effort to destroy relevant information then trial judges will often tell juries to make an “adverse inference” that the destroyed data was damaging - nearly equivalent to a guilty verdict.

Corporations are a legal fiction: immortal “persons” capable of amassing huge power. Why shouldn’t they be held to a higher standard than us garden-variety mortals?

Robin

]]> By: Robert Pearson http://storagemojo.com/2007/03/14/un-intel-igent-email-retention/#comment-38727 Robert Pearson Fri, 16 Mar 2007 14:19:57 +0000 http://storagemojo.com/?p=400#comment-38727 RE: "Dumb, yes; malicious, maybe not" It's neither. It is self-preservation, or a survival game, against a government viewed as capricious. The long-term view of government is that they will adjust the regulations to get the results they want. It will take time so you need a Strategy so that can use that time to your advantage. In this case technical obsolescence is free. The IRS and tax revenue is an excellent example. The use of Tax Shelters to legally avoid paying taxes is well known in high income areas. When I first became familiar with Tax Shelters they lasted as long as 15-20 years before they became useless due to regulation changes. Now the typical life is one year. Definitely one year if it is a very popular Tax Shelter. The <a href="http://www.b-eye-network.com/view/3365" rel="nofollow" rel="nofollow">Time Value of Information</a> is an interesting picture. Not as good as the one I can't find but close... Some Information, such as emails, instead of becoming valueless, can become quite costly for legal reasons. Costly emails fall rapidly into the (-$$$) quadrant of the full graph in practically "zero" time, instead of nicely declining to "useless" or zero. The value can plunge frighteningly almost straight down the "Y axis" into "-$$$" territory. Email is one of those pesky problems where the TCO of Storage is less than the TCO of identifying and removing the email. So they are left laying around for years. Not any more! The "government over your shoulder" is a powerful deterrent to good SOA, ITIL, IT Services and maybe SaaS. The Lower Metrics of Information Integrity, Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity are retarded as well. If you can recover and read it so can the government. This makes ECM (Enterprise Content Management) a real challenge. What records and documents do I need to Recover my business in case of Disaster? How do I identify them? What is the litigation risk for each? RE: “Dumb, yes; malicious, maybe not”
It’s neither.
It is self-preservation, or a survival game, against a government viewed as capricious. The long-term view of government is that they will adjust the regulations to get the results they want. It will take time so you need a Strategy so that can use that time to your advantage. In this case technical obsolescence is free.

The IRS and tax revenue is an excellent example.
The use of Tax Shelters to legally avoid paying taxes is well known in high income areas. When I first became familiar with Tax Shelters they lasted as long as 15-20 years before they became useless due to regulation changes. Now the typical life is one year. Definitely one year if it is a very popular Tax Shelter.

The Time Value of Information is an interesting picture. Not as good as the one I can’t find but close…
Some Information, such as emails, instead of becoming valueless, can become quite costly for legal reasons. Costly emails fall rapidly into the (-$$$) quadrant of the full graph in practically “zero” time, instead of nicely declining to “useless” or zero. The value can plunge frighteningly almost straight down the “Y axis” into “-$$$” territory. Email is one of those pesky problems where the TCO of Storage is less than the TCO of identifying and removing the email. So they are left laying around for years. Not any more!

The “government over your shoulder” is a powerful deterrent to good SOA, ITIL, IT Services and maybe SaaS. The Lower Metrics of Information Integrity, Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity are retarded as well. If you can recover and read it so can the government. This makes ECM (Enterprise Content Management) a real challenge. What records and documents do I need to Recover my business in case of Disaster? How do I identify them? What is the litigation risk for each?

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