Iron Mountain Turns 60- Iron Mountain Ireland

A lot has changed in how companies manage their information since August 1951. That’s when Herman Knaust converted his successful mushroom farm inside a former iron mine into an underground bunker for information.

Sixty years ago, the world feared the atomic bomb, and businesses sought an impenetrable vault for protecting their vital records. Knaust, the self-proclaimed “Mushroom King,” recognized this need and sent the first dynamite and construction crews into his mine on Dec. 26, 1950. Eight months later, the mine reopened as Iron Mountain Atomic Storage, Inc.

Six decades later, organizations are still taking precautions to protect their data. But keeping information safe is no longer their sole concern; it’s just one need of many that organizations today have for their data. Savvy information managers are now leveraging data to improve their businesses in ways that even a visionary like Knaust could not have imagined.

In the time since Iron Mountain’s first customer, East River Savings Bank, sought storage for microfilm copies of deposit records, organizations have evolved their relationship with their data several times. Companies went from regarding information as something to hide away to viewing it as a transcript of business actions. This focus on documentation later gave way to an age of compliance as mounting regulation made managing information more complex. Today, organizations rightly recognize information can drive both business efficiency and growth opportunity.

Iron Mountain CEO and Chairman Richard Reese has witnessed much of this evolution. During his 30-year tenure with the company, it’s grown from a largely North American business grossing $3 million a year into a global leader in information management with $3 billion in annual revenue. In a recent interview commemorating Iron Mountain’s 60th anniversary, Reese reflected on the industry’s evolution and what information management trends to watch.

Q: The story of Iron Mountain’s founding is, to say the least, unique. How did Herman Knaust come to realize the value of protecting information over growing mushrooms?

Reese: It was the confluence of some keen observations. He saw how many refugees from Europe struggled to make new lives in America without their birth certificates, passports or diplomas, which were lost or destroyed during World War II. For him, this underscored the value of protecting one-of-a-kind records.

At the same time, the specter of nuclear attack hung over the world. Many businesses worried about surviving such a disaster without a safe haven for their companies’ vital records. Hearing these concerns from friends and business associates, Knaust soon realized the potential of his mushroom farm as an underground bunker for protecting information. And that’s how the company was born.

Richard Reese’s take on the continuing information explosion:
“The shift from analog to digital information created the data avalanche that has all but buried most companies. Technology has just made it too easy and cheap to create, copy and distribute information.”

Q: Sixty years ago, managing your information meant protecting it and ensuring its complete recovery. How have companies’ information needs evolved over the years?

Reese: Managing information in 1951 simply meant keeping it safe and ensuring you could restart a business following an atomic blast or other major disaster. Today’s records managers have much more to worry about, as technology advances and legal regulations have created new concerns and new demands.

The shift from analog to digital information created the data avalanche that has all but buried most companies. Technology made it too easy and cheap to create, copy and distribute information.

Add to that landmark laws like Rule 26 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, which clarified the process for organizations to produce relevant electronic information before a legal trial. Regulations like this one meant you needed to classify and store your information much more carefully. You suddenly needed to have a better understanding of your information, and you had to be able to find it quickly or you faced penalties and potential damage to your company’s reputation.

This collision of data growth and legal regulation has totally reshaped how companies manage information. They now have to account for all of their information—not just the vital records they must protect. And instead of just regarding information as something to protect, they’re rightly seeing it as both a vital asset and a serious liability.

Richard Reese’s take on records management best practices:
“In many cases, [companies] can’t spend the time or money necessary to ask or answer, ‘Is this a record?’ It’s a classic needle-in-the-haystack problem, but the volume and variety of data is making it harder to identify which needles deserve a company’s attention.”

Q: Given this rapid information growth, is it now harder to decide what constitutes a record, as well as what’s worth keeping and what’s not?

Reese: Yes. Companies have more information than they know what to do with, and it’s scattered out to every corner of their organization. They also have to account for various media—paper documents, electronic files, instant messages, company blogs, tweets and more. In many cases, they can’t spend the time or money necessary to ask or answer, “Is this a record?” It’s a classic needle-in-the-haystack problem, but the volume and variety of data is making it harder to identify which needles deserve a company’s attention.

Richard Reese’s take on information management risk:
“…Many companies skip risk analysis and simply treat all records equally. That’s costly….”

Q: How can a business tackle this dilemma?

Reese: In a word—segment. Start by separating out the high-risk, high-value information. Which areas of your company are audited and/or regulated most? What areas are growing faster than others? These are the records you want to grip the tightest, by establishing clear policies and procedures for their access, retention and disposition.

It’s unfortunate, but many companies skip this risk analysis and simply try to treat all records equally. That’s costly, because they invariably pay to store more than they need and conversely spend more time looking for the right data. Counterintuitive to some, this egalitarian approach to managing records also makes a company more vulnerable to noncompliance and legal penalties, since it hasn’t taken the time to separate out high-risk records and establish clear policies for them, like legal holds.

Richard Reese’s take on the user-friendly workplace:
“…Users expect more intuitive interfaces, more immediate feedback and generally lower-friction experiences…A smart company will understand this reality and build an IT infrastructure to evolve with equal sophistication as today’s personal technology.”

Q: What concerns are top-of-mind today among your customers?

Reese: IT budgets remain under siege. Many companies are tasking information managers with reducing costs, even as data growth continues and users’ demands increase. This is why we recommend organizations focus their time and resources toward the information that matters most.

There’s another trend we’re seeing: An emerging generation of employees increasingly expects enterprise technology to mirror the form and function of consumer technology—a phenomenon some refer to as the “consumerization of IT.” It’s painful for corporate IT departments; their users expect more intuitive interfaces, more immediate feedback and generally lower-friction experiences. In some cases, an employee may even attempt to circumvent IT and sneak applications onto his or her desktop and the company’s servers. A smart company will understand this reality and build an IT infrastructure to evolve with equal sophistication as personal technology.

Richard Reese’s take on social media and the law:
“The information buyers are sharing about themselves online in [social media] interactions is rich with insights...[but] be careful about what information you capture, and be sure to weigh the risk-reward tradeoffs of mining that data.”

Q: What other compliance trends deserve top-of-mind attention from businesses right now?

Reese: Social media represents one of the greatest risk/reward scenarios for companies today. We’ve all seen companies blog, post on Facebook and tweet over the last few years to better engage their customers. The information buyers are sharing about themselves in these interactions is rich with insights. But when companies dip their toes in this stream to capture that data, I can almost certainly tell you they own it—making them liable for whatever comes out of it.

Remember: The law says it’s the content of information—not its format—that determines whether it’s a record. And as the courts and regulators continue to solidify legal liability and specify requirements, there’s a lesson here: Be careful about what information you capture, and be sure to weigh the risk-reward tradeoffs of mining that data.

Richard Reese’s take on social media and your infrastructure:
“It’s the next wave of growth in records and information management, for sure. And if you think the volume growth of the last wave was high, you ain’t seen nothing yet.”

Q: Social media seems like a great new information frontier. But what does it mean for information managers?

Reese: It’s the next wave of growth in records and information management, for sure. And if you think the volume growth of the last wave was high, you ain’t seen nothing yet. The volume growth of social media data is just phenomenal. In many ways, we see a similar confluence of challenges as from years past—another era with sharply increased data volume, amid uncertain rules and regulations for how to keep and use the data.

Q: If Knaust were alive today, do you think any particular aspect of Iron Mountain’s business would surprise him?

Reese: Definitely. He’d likely be amazed by the expansion of our role in supporting our customers. Iron Mountain now partners with more than 150,000 customers in 35 countries and stores information in more than 1,000 facilities—including the original mushroom cave. We’re helping these businesses cut their storage costs, achieve compliance, speed legal discovery processes and access critical information quickly—without straining their time, people or financial resources.

Q: On the other hand, what might he have anticipated?

Reese: The concept of information as an asset. Ultimately, that was the realization he founded the company on. That holds true today.

Q: After six decades of records management, what’s the most valuable piece of institutional wisdom Iron Mountain has gained?

Reese: I’ve spent much of this interview talking about what’s changed—new technologies, new media formats, new rules, and new organizational needs and concerns. Yet the approach to addressing these challenges remains largely unchanged: Segment your data by risk profiles. Develop consistent processes for records access, retention and disposition. Train employees. And audit for compliance. That’s it. Just like good old-fashioned diet and exercise is the best path to long-term health, so too is good old-fashioned process and procedures to long-term information health.

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