Iron Mountain

Iron Mountain is a world leader in information management services; the company helps more than 156,000 organizations in 32 countries on five continents to store, protect, and manage their information.

ICANNWiki Silver Sponsor
Type:	Public
Industry:	Information Management
Founded:	1951
Founder(s):	Herman Knaust
Headquarters:	745 Atlantic Ave. Boston, MA 02111
Products:	Information Management Services
Employees:	17,000
Website:	ironmountain.com
Facebook:	Iron Mountain
LinkedIn:	Iron Mountain
Twitter:	@IronMountain
Key People
Shane Ryan, Business Development Manager David Jones, Client Executive John Boruvka, Vice President of Sales Mary English, Vice President of Operations Frank Bruno, Director of IPM Tara Holt, Senior Product Manager Kristen Allen, Marketing Manager John Trotti, Senior Manager, Contracts Joy Egerton, Manager of Business Support Andrea Vega, Project Manager David Burke, Business Support Specialist Sesh Venkat, Manager of Software Engineering Greg Zaltsman, Principal Engineer

Iron Mountain's History with ICANN

Iron Mountain has a long history with ICANN, protecting registry data, registrar data, and new generic Top-Level Domain (gTLD) client data. Iron Mountain has also been selected to manage data escrow for boutique and forward thinking ccTLDs in the market, such as .me, .cat, and others.

In 2001, Iron Mountain was the first company ever selected by ICANN to protect registry data via escrow agreements. Each Registry Operator must comply with provisions contained within a Registry Data Escrow Agreement as part of its Registry Agreement with ICANN. This agreement requires registries to periodically transfer registry data for their generic Top-Level Domains (gTLDs) 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. Today, there are nearly 1,000 registrars, and ICANN now requires these registrars to escrow critical registration data that could then be released to ICANN in case there is a termination of the registrar's accreditation agreement (RAA).

In 2013, Iron Mountain was approved by ICANN to provide data escrow services to new gTLD clients as the Domain Name space expands. To date, Iron Mountain has been selected by over 800 new gTLDs to provide escrow services for their registry data.

The company is a regular exhibitor and sponsor at ICANN Meetings.

Data Escrow and the New gTLDs

The New gTLD Program was developed to increase competition and choice in the Domain Name space. As the New generic Top-Level Domains (new gTLDs) become a reality, ICANN is carefully preparing applicants for their new role as Registry Operators.

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 the Registry's 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 ICANN New gTLD 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 has developed the Information Guide “Data Escrow for the New gTLDs: Safeguarding Your Future” to provide more information.

Iron Mountain Business Scope and History

Organizations in every major industry and of all sizes—including more than 94% of the Fortune 1000—rely on Iron Mountain to store and manage their information. Iron Mountain safely stores some of the world's most valuable historical artifacts, cultural treasures, business documents and medical records. To properly protect and render this information, Iron Mountain employs almost 17,000 professionals and boasts an infrastructure that includes more than 1,000 facilities and 3,600 vehicles. Publicly traded under NYSE symbol “IRM,” Iron Mountain is an S&P 500 company and a member of the Fortune 1000 (currently ranked: 712).

Iron Mountain and ICANN

Iron Mountain is proud of its long partnership with ICANN.

Highlights of Iron Mountain Registry and Registrar Escrow Services

• 75% of all the Registry Service Providers use Iron Mountain for escrow services
• More than 99% of all gTLD Registry Data is in escrow with Iron Mountain
• Iron Mountain supports the following list of registries with escrow: .info, .org, .com, .net, .name, .asia, .jobs, .mobi, .aero, .biz, .us, .cat, .tel, .travel, .me, and .xxx, .pro, and other new gTLD registries.
• More than 99% of all gTLD Registrar Data is in escrow with Iron Mountain as well
• 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), MelbourneIT, Qinetics (Registry ASP), Register.IT, and UrbanBrain (Interlink).

Registry Data Escrow

Registry data escrow is one of the essential stakeholder protection mechanisms for gTLDs. 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. 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. This 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), and that this information can be accessed and released only under pre-defined and controlled conditions. Iron Mountain’s Registry Data Escrow service is fully automated and has been enhanced at the request of ICANN and the registry community and per the specifications of the program to ensure customer ease-of-use.

As discussed above, new gTLDs are also required to protect their registry data with data escrow. ICANN has approved Iron Mountain as a provider of data escrow services to new gTLD registry operators.

Review more information in Iron Mountain's "Frequently Asked Questions about Registry Data Escrow."

For more technical detail, Iron Mountain has developed "Registry Data Escrow Service: Your Technical Questions Answered."

Iron Mountain also provides a document on learning how to "Protect the Data Associated with your gTLD."

Registrar Data Escrow

ICANN began implementation of its Registrar Data Escrow program in 2007. This program is designed to help ensure the stability and security of the Internet's domain name system through escrow of critical gTLD registration data, ensuring that the information associated with registered domain names is never at risk.

In accordance with the Registrar Accreditation Agreement (RAA), this data can be used by ICANN to allow continuity of registrar operations in the event a registrar's RAA is terminated or expires without renewal. Iron Mountain was selected by ICANN as its designated escrow agent for the Registrar Data Escrow program through a competitive RFP bidding process.

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. As Iron Mountain is ICANN's selected escow agent, there is no additional cost to registrars who escrow their registration data with the company. Registrars who elect to use a third-party provider must do so at their own expense.

Find more information from Iron Mountain on this subject in the document "Registrar Data Escrow Compliance: Safeguarding Domains Large and Small."

Awards & Recognition

• Iron Mountain was ranked on #88 on InformationWeek's list of the top 250 most Innovative Business Technology Organizations for 2013. Iron Mountain was recognized for a customer service project with the goal of improving customers’ experience at every touch point.

• Iron Mountain was cited as one of the nation’s most secure companies in Security Magazine’s “Security 500” rankings in 2012.