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According to a study done by the University of California at Berkeley, more data has been created within any two-year period between 1995 and 2005, than during all of the prior history of mankind. And no one knows this better than Iron Mountain; it ranks as the world's largest protector of corporate records -- including paper documents, backup tapes, and other forms of digital media. In fact, 97 percent of Fortune 1000 companies store their records in hundreds of Iron Mountain's Fort Knox-like facilities around the world. Specifically, the company acts as guardian to nine petabytes of digital data, 300 million cubic feet of paper records, and 100 million backup media.

As a leader in data protection, Iron Mountain has been very proactive about meeting disclosure and discovery regulations for protecting its customers' data. A company policy requires every piece of data shipped outside of the company to be encrypted. Roden says, "The value we're moving for the company is the value of the tape, not the value of the information. We've been encouraging our customers to encrypt their backups."

Iron Mountain also helps its customers to create records management programs compliant with Rule 26 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedures. In fact, Roden has carried out a number of BusinessWeek webinars on this subject. He says that companies need to define their policies for all types of records, and then train people on the regulatory requirements and the company's policy. Next, he says, customers need to audit and test their policies, then refine them.

Tune in to a candid conversation Iron Mountain CIO Kevin Roden, who talks about all things data: compliance, security procedures, encryption, and more.

Resources

Iron Mountain Encrypts Itself

Iron Mountain's CIO on Data Protection Resolutions for 2006

Iron Mountain Touts Value of Encryption

Bio

Kevin Roden joined the company as executive vice president and chief information officer in 1999. Previously, Roden was CIO with Fleet Boston Financial, for the banking subsidiary. He has held numerous technology and management positions in a 20-year career at BankBoston, including executive director of U.S. technology.

Production Credits

Dana Farver, Executive Producer, Communities Editor-in-Chief
Tom Parish, Audio Producer, Show Host
Kimberly Stone, Web Development Manager
Scott Ebner, Web Developer