Retention is a fundamental component in records management programs.  A clearly defined retention program ensures that you store the proper records at an Iron Mountain facility for the proper amount of time, and that you destroy these records in a timely manner, thereby adhering to state and federal laws and industry regulations.  Iron Mountain Connect Records Management makes it easy to effectively manage your retention program and reduce the risks and costs associated with under- and over-retention of records.

Iron Mountain Connect Records Management’s flexible design enables it to meet the retention needs of a wide variety of organizations. Due to the complex and varied nature of retention programs, Iron Mountain’s account team works with you and assesses your needs in order to setup the retention option that best meets them.  

Record codes drive retention policy; they are used in Iron Mountain Connect Records Management to automatically calculate the length of time a record is retained.  Record codes are defined at the enterprise, customer and department levels.  Customers that use Iron Mountain Connect Records Management to calculate retention are required to assign a record code when creating a box or file; your retention options determine how a record code and the associated destruction data fields function. 

Hold codes also play a key part in your retention program; they enable you to override the retention fields on a record and prevent record destruction when necessary.  You can apply holds on a box-by-box basis or you can apply a hold that spans an entire record code, department or customer.  Together, record codes and hold codes enable you to create and manage an effective, targeted retention program.   

 

Retention Options

Due to the complex and varied nature of retention programs, Iron Mountain’s account team works with you and assesses your needs in order to setup the retention option that best meets them.  The steps associated with each retention option are outlined in Creating a Box:

• Retention is Not Calculated:  If your organization does not use Iron Mountain Connect Records Management to calculate retention, the record code and destruction data that you enter are informational only; no automatic calculations are performed. 
• Retention is Calculated:   If your organization does use Iron Mountain Connect Records Management to calculate retention, the application can be set up to calculate retention as follows:
  • Automatic Calculation from Setup Date Forward:  Iron Mountain Connect Records Management automatically calculates retention for all boxes that you create after contracting to use retention functionality. Boxes created prior to the setup date are not converted to use automatic retention calculation and do not require updating. 
  • Automatic Calculation for All New Boxes:  Iron Mountain Connect Records Management automatically calculates retention for all new and existing boxes. 
  • Manual Override of Automatic Calculations: Your organization is able to manually override automatic calculations as necessary to accommodate exceptions. The Destruction Indicator and the Destruction Eligibility Date fields function as manual entry fields that override the record code’s Destruction Eligibility Period.