Data Disaster? - White House Emails

I will tread somewhat lightly on this disaster to avoid a political debate in which this particular blog has no interest. If you want political debates you’ll have to meet me for a beer. That said, I have seen the White House in the news attached to backup so often that I couldn’t continue to completely ignore it.

Basically, there are a large number of emails missing from the backup records that the White House keeps, and the explanation for the missing tapes has been somewhat suspect. Robert K. Blechman gives us a good rundown of the questionable claims in his blog post, so I won’t go into it any further than I have. Give it a read and draw your own conclusions.

That said, this story is a good reminder of the importance of carefully documented backup procedures. Most of the White House’s issue seems to be based on confusion, real or feigned, over the agreed upon backup methodology. It is vital for companies, and government organizations, to have a backup plan that is clear and easily followed.

The issue of tapes also comes into play in this story, but that is something we will get into later. For now, lets try to imagine an appropriate backup plan for White House email records and a way in which that plan could be presented without leaving such room for error.