On The Horizon
The Council Newsletter of Gosford
Micrographics
June 2006
General Manager
This month in ‘On the Horizon'
we have some thought provoking articles, New Trivia quiz with prizes.
So, please read on and enjoy!
Risk
Management
Part of risk management is the management of the retention and disposal of business
records and documents. The one issue that is usually overlooked
is the retention of the
necessary software and hardware
to enable the retrieval, reading and printing of the business records
and documents that were archived 5-10 years ago.
Can I still access them?
As hard-copy documents the answer is
yes.
As microfilm documents the answer is
yes.
As electronic documents the answer is
maybe. It depends if the current version of the software is
backward compatible and the backup tape or disk has not been corrupted.
The legal
obligation is to be able to reproduce the document and or
business record in hard-copy within a reasonable length of time.
As both Morgan Stanley and HIH discovered in their recent court
proceedings. The inability to print from electronic backups of
documents archived 5-7 years ago, cost Morgan Stanley millions of
dollars.
The simple and most effective
way to minimise the risk is to utilise microfilm for long-term
preservation of important documents. The microfilm is completely
independent of any technology, can not be infected by electronic virus
or Internet hackers and can be easily reproduced onto paper. The
advantage microfilm has over hard-copy is that it requires very little
storage area.
Act now to minimise the Council's risk with storage of information–
Contact us on 02 4389 8066 or via email on gosinfo1@gosmicro.com.au
or check out our microfilm
services on our web site
A Micro Bit
of Trivia
We are all interested in economical ways in which we can mitigate the
risks of document management and storage. There was a very good
article written in "Keeping Good Companies" journal in February 2006
about managing documents and risk.
"In the article there is a topic
'Paper-based or digital?' what was the saving grace of the HIH audit
firm?
What was the Act that the article referenced when discussing 'document
authenticity'?"
The first five correct answers will win a box of delicious Lindt
chocolates. Send you answer to gosinfo1@gosmicro.com.au
Don’t forget – for all your microfilm, microfilm digitisation and
scanning needs, Gosford Micrographics are the industry leading
professionals. For further information, have a look at our
website:
www.gosmicro.com.au
From all the team at Gosford Micrographics,
enjoy the warmth of a hot fire in winter