The Challenges of Digital Preservation in a Changing Environment Andrew Pitt Pfizer eArchive Service Team Global Records Management Services DPC Digital Preservation for Health Studies – May, 2011

Key Topics Business Challenges Technical Challenges Key Example Lessons Learned These are my personal views and comments and do not necessarily reflect those of the company.

Business Challenges An increasing shift from hardcopy to electronic records Changing workforce and working practices Multiple copies held in a many places and on many media types e.g. cd, dvd, memory sticks and sometimes even older!! Cultural, regulatory and legal differences on a global scale e.g. data privacy laws Resources both in terms of people and money Do this all internally and at as low a cost as possible. Communication

Technical Challenges Proliferation of applications both corporate wide and within disciplines Rapid change in the update and use of these apps Size of individual data files e.g. 2gb per file eight years ago. Data migration from multiple sources, locations, operating systems, database types, validation Meeting business requirements for accessing and viewing the archived data to enable them to meet regulatory and legal requirements Record Format Unstructured - Records that can be formatted to a printable document, e.g., Word, PDF, or text files Structured - Records that require logic or an application to interpret, e.g., oracle database Preserving the eArchive

Structured Data Archive Solution Archive data regardless of application or db type e.g. Oracle, SQL, DB2. Long term preservation through archiving to an optimised, compressed file format. Archived data accessed by the eArchive itself, business reporting tools e.g. Business Objects or via SQL query tools. Data cannot be modified by end users. Managed data access across the archive. Managed data retention and destruction process including legal hold. Key consideration; This tool does not fully replicate the source applications look and feel or functionality.

Key Example Global Application Large database with multiple feeds from other systems. Links to external attachments e.g. 21 million scanned documents in tif format. Business requirement to access and print selected images in pdf to meet US FDA requirements in a specific format. Multiple options for long term archiving; 1.Archive the current app and maintain the pdf print function. 2.Convert all tif images to pdf and then archive. 3.Retain the current system in a read only state until no longer required as per the corporate records retention policy.

Plan well ahead Prepare for technical issues along the way; Build a list of acceptable archive deviations Location of external attachments Changing business requirements Loss of technical and business line subject matter experts Don’t underestimate how long it will take e.g. 120 days for 2.7Tb/700,000 files Once the old system is gone – it’s gone! No going back and ensure that the eArchive itself is continually updated and enhanced. Obtain senior management support Communicate regularly to system owners/users and prepare them well in advance. Lessons Learned