Know when to hold 'em...

... and know when to fold 'em--data files, that is. Regulatory compliance usually brings to mind data retention, but getting rid of old data or data that no longer must be retained may be an equal concern. Keeping data that should be dumped could prove perilous if your company finds itself on the short end of the litigation stick.

Destroying data isn't easy; torching old tapes might effectively erase data, but it might not be official without a certificate of destruction.

Services for verifying data destruction abound. Hightstown, NJ-based QSGI recently announced an audit and erasure program that can remove data from most leading vendors' disk products. QSGI can erase disk data with up to 99 overwrite passes.

And if overwriting isn't enough, companies like E-Scrap Technologies in Bolingbrook, IL, offer disk-drive shredding as part of their disposal arsenal. The shredder can gobble up a variety of disk and tape types. E-Scrap will even recycle the results.

--Rich Castagna