Tracking and Chain of Custody: Where USPS Gets it Right by Jennifer Burl

Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds.

This inscription, found at the James Farley Post Office in New York City, is often considered the highest standard to which a United States Postal Service employee can aspire. USPS employees live up to this inscription by striving to deliver every package on-time and to the right location. Nonetheless, there are a great many things the USPS does right; one of the most important is how they track packages, and how their methodology applies to data backup services.

Enter Your Tracking Number

If you shipped Express Mail, according to the USPS website, you'll get point-by-point tracking details. This means you'll know when your incoming package was picked up, where it was sent, when it arrived and when it will be out for delivery. If you're sending a package, you can make sure it got exactly where it was going exactly when it was supposed to using this feature, and you never need to worry over a loss in the mail. It's a simple thing, but tracking a package at each step of its journey imparts a sense of confidence.

What's odd is that many companies don't apply that same logic to their critical data, even if they're taking steps to store it offsite. Too many businesses hand their data over to providers who offer glowing assurances that data gets from local point A to secure point B, but can't provide any information about who picked up a company's backup data, how long it took to make the trip and if anything unexpected occurred. Iron Mountain's Dedicated Transportation for Offsite Tape Vaulting, meanwhile, offers backup services that include tracking every step of your data's transportation route. By using dedicated vehicles equipped with the InControl solution and driven by thoroughly vetted employees, companies get the piece of mind that their data is in good hands and that, should then need arise, they could find out exactly where it is.

People will pay for tracking everything from Birthday presents to postcards headed for old friends. Doing the same for data is often overlooked but provides a huge benefit; as the USPS teaches us, deliveries through snow and rain, heat and gloom are very noble, but knowing where a package or data is at any given moment is far more valuable.

LINK:	http://blog.ironmountain.com/2013/service-lines/data-backup-and-recove...
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