Iron Mountain: Difference between revisions

'''Iron Mountain''' is a world leader in information management services, assisting more than 140,000 organizations in 39 countries on five continents with storing, protecting and managing their information. Publicly traded under NYSE symbol IRM, Iron Mountain is an S&P 500 company and a member of the Fortune 1000 (currently ranked: 643).<ref>[http://www.ironmountain.com/company/about-us.html Iron Mountain About]</ref>

In 2001, Iron Mountain was the first company ever selected to protect [[registry]] data via escrow agreements. As part of its Registry Agreement with ICANN, each Registry Operator must comply with provisions contained within a [[Registry Data Escrow Agreement]]. This agreement requires registries to periodically transfer registry data for their [[gTLD]]s to a reputable escrow agent to be held in escrow in order to protect registrant interests in the case of a registry’s failure.

In 2007, Iron Mountain was selected by [[ICANN]] to function as its [[Registrar Data Escrow]] agent.<ref>[http://www.icann.org/en/announcements/announcement-2-13feb08.htm ICANN announcement]</ref>  

For a look “inside the mountain” visit the [http://ironmountain.com/60/scrapbook.html company scrapbook].

The company takes its name, and started its growth, from the original mine purchased by Herman Knaust in 1951. It is arguably one of the most secure sites in the country, evidenced by the fact that the U.S. government has chosen to keep many confidential files and other important physical items in its own special vaults in the mine. The mine is 3 miles long and 2 miles wide, 220 feet underground. The U.S. government is the largest client of Iron Mountain's original facility. 95% of the customers of the site demand that the company keep their identity and their records absolutely secret. They have never had a security breach. The mine notably houses documents from the U.S. patent office; the U.S. social security office; a Smithsonian Institute records collection; over 700,000 original vinyl audio recordings, such as Frank Sinatra's original single, and Michael Jackson's studio masters; physical evidence from flight 93, involved in the infamous terrorist attacks of September 11th; Bill Gates' company, Corbis, stores its collection of famous, historical photographs, the images are in a huge, moisture sealed vault with controlled temperature and humidity levels, and the most famous images are specially sealed and frozen to preserve them.

The mine is so extensive that it houses its own water and sewage systems, and fire department and security teams. The mine is in an ideal location given that Pennsylvania is not in any danger of earthquakes.<ref>[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2aou6c2MOmg&noredirect=1 Channel 4 News Piece, 2007, YouTube]</ref>

[[ICANN]] selected Iron Mountain to be the digital escrow agent for its [[Registrar Data Escrow]] program.<ref>[http://www.icann.org/en/announcements/announcement-2-13feb08.htm ICANN announcement]</ref> This program is designed to secure the Internet's [[DNS|domain name system]] by protecting important data through Iron Mountain's digital department.<ref>[[ICANN 40]] Interview</ref>

At the time of the agreement in 2007, Iron Mountain immediately made itself available to the more than 900 [[ICANN]]-accredited domain name registrars, though any registrar could also choose to use a different third party provider as the escrow agent.<ref>[http://www.ironmountain.com/news/2007/impr11282007.asp Iron Mountain News]</ref> [[ICANN]] now requires registrars to escrow critical registration data that could then be released to [[ICANN]] in case there is a termination of the [[registrar]]'s [[RAA|accreditation agreement]].<ref>[[ICANN 40]] Interview</ref>

* Iron Mountain has the most experience of any escrow agent and has been committed to the business since the first required escrow (.INFO) in 2001

* Iron Mountain has partnered with several Registry Service Providers to be their preferred escrow agent, including: [[Afilias]], [[Central Registry Solutions]] (CRS), [[Key-Systems]], [[Qinetics]] (Registry ASP), [[Register.IT]], [[UrbanBrain]] (Interlink), and [[Melbourne IT]].<ref>[http://www.ironmountain.com/Services/Technology-Escrow-Services/Strategic-Alliances.aspx Iron Mountain Strategic Alliances]</ref>

Registry data escrow is one of the essential stakeholder protection mechanisms for gTLDs. Registry Data Escrow ensures that the data associated with registered domain names is never at risk of being lost or inaccessible. Registry Data Escrow is a specialized data protection service designed to meet the compliance and “best practice” needs of domain name registrants worldwide. The service ensures that up-to-date copies of domain name ownership and contact details are held in escrow by a trusted, neutral third party (such as Iron Mountain), to be accessed and released only under pre-defined and controlled conditions. The purpose of Registry Data Escrow is to help safeguard registrar and registrant interests in the event of a registry’s business or technical failure.<ref>[http://www.ironmountain.com/Knowledge-Center/Reference-Library/View-by-Document-Type/Data-Sheets-Brochures/R/Registry-Data-Escrow-Data-Sheet.aspx Registry Data Escrow Service, ironmountain.com]</ref>

Through their participation in the Registry Data Escrow program, registrars can assure their customers that their domain name registration information is safe, and will be accessible by ICANN in the unlikely event that the registrar's operations are disrupted. There is no additional cost to registrars who escrow their registration data with Iron Mountain, as ICANN's selected escrow agent. Registrars who elect to use a third-party provider must do so at their own expense.<ref>[http://www.ironmountain.com/Knowledge-Center/Reference-Library/View-by-Document-Type/Data-Sheets-Brochures/R/Registrar-Data-Escrow-Data-Sheet.aspx Registrar Data Escrow Service, ironmountain.com]</ref>

One of the requirements of operating a new gTLD is to engage an independent entity to act as a data escrow agent. This neutral, trusted third party (such as Iron Mountain) will provision your data escrow services as specified by the Registry Agreement. Data escrow is one of the five critical registry functions and is a requirement for all new gTLDs. It is covered in question #38 of the application, and details are given in Specification 2 of the Registry Agreement. New gTLD applicants need to articulate that a plan is in place to escrow gTLD data. Iron Mountain offers the most comprehensive and trusted Domain Name Registry Data Escrow Services in the industry, making it as simple as possible to comply with ICANN’s escrow requirements.<ref>[http://www.ironmountain.com/Knowledge-Center/Reference-Library/View-by-Document-Type/White-Papers-Briefs/D/Data-Escrow-for-the-New-gTLDs.aspx Data Escrow for the New gTLDs, ironmountain.com]</ref>

* In September, 2011, Iron Mountain was ranked on #47 on Information Week's list of the top 250 most Innovative Business Technology Organizations for 2011.<ref>[http://www.informationweek.com/1309 Information Week 250 of 2011]</ref> Iron Mountain and Information Week credited their cutting-edge performance enhancing studies and developments related to their fleet of nearly 3,000 cargo vans used to deliver and pick up their clients' documents and materials.<ref>[http://www.ironmountain.com/driving-innovation/?utm_source=homepage&utm_medium=hero&utm_campaign=driving-innovation Driving Innovation, IronMountain.com]</ref>