Norwich Public Schools Signs Contract for Xiotech's Archive Management Services
Share:
Hosted Service Will Manage District's Student Records Electronically, Providing More Accessible, Yet Secure, Access to Archived Information
EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn., March 13 -- Xiotech Corporation today announced that Connecticut's Norwich Public Schools signed a contract in January for Xiotech® Archive Management Services. Through the hosted service, the school district's student records will be scanned and managed electronically through a central point of contact, providing a more sustainable, secure and cost-effective records management program.
With nine elementary and two middle schools, Norwich Public Schools is the largest K-8 school district in Connecticut. It also has two day-treatment facilities, one alternative high school and a separate designated high school, which is not under its direct jurisdiction. The district has nearly 400 employees.
Connecticut state law requires districts to keep all student records for seven years after graduation. After seven years, school district officials must inform parents or guardians that their children's records will be destroyed, offering to send the files before destruction.
Norwich Public Schools currently has more than 1,750 files of student records and estimates it adds 225 files every year. The process of locating more than 200 seven-year-old individual student files each year and then ensuring proper destruction of the records was time-consuming and increasingly expensive.
"We needed a simpler, secure, yet affordable, way to manage our student records," said Pamela Aubin, superintendent of Norwich Public Schools. "Xiotech was the most cost effective vendor that offered us the records management technology and services we were looking for through a hosted service. This approach was appealing because we did not need to make an upfront investment in our own technical infrastructure, and we could easily budget for the service since the monthly fee was established before the project began."
With Xiotech's Archive Management Services, appropriate staff will be able to quickly and easily access student records 24 hours a day, seven days a week, via a secure, Web-based interface. Thus, locating files and parent or guardian contact information for those that have reached the seven year cap will simply involve a fast, online database query. If the parent or guardian wants the file, information will be easily sent electronically. If not, the district can easily and securely destroy the electronic files. Previously staff had to go to the school's stored files each year and manually search for appropriate files and parent or guardian contact information. Then files had to be physically shipped or destroyed.
With Archive Management Services, all of the costs of gathering, indexing and archiving data are captured in an all-inclusive per-gigabyte monthly fee, so Norwich Public Schools can easily predict the costs upfront and budget accordingly.
The service also will provide Norwich Public Schools with improved records protection. For example, in the event of a natural disaster, such as a flood or a fire, the boxes of paper records could be permanently ruined without backup documentation. With the hosted service, the records are saved electronically and backed up at a secondary remote location, ensuring data preservation and ongoing availability.
Before selecting Xiotech, Norwich Public Schools evaluated 13 archive management vendors. While its most pressing need was for records management, it wanted an archival system that could be expanded into other areas such as payroll and personnel documentation. As a result, the selection committee was broadened to include the superintendent, MIS director, special education director, personnel clerk (records manager) and payroll/HR staff.
"Organizations today are increasingly looking for ways to manage a range of information risk issues in an integrated manner," said Mike Stolz, vice president of Corporate Marketing, Xiotech. "Archive Management Services was specifically designed to be flexible in handling both print and electronic documents, structured and unstructured information, and regulatory and legal requirements. With no upfront infrastructure investment, it's really well- suited for public sector entities like Norwich Public Schools that appreciate predictable budgeting."
All student record data will be stored on a Xiotech Magnitude 3D® storage area network (SAN) system located at Xiotech's Norwich facility, allowing Norwich Public Schools to add necessary storage capacity at a lower total cost. The district signed a 7-year contract for Xiotech Archive Management Services.
About Xiotech
Xiotech is the leading provider of integrated information risk management solutions for midmarket companies. With expert consulting, litigation support, regulatory compliance and data storage expertise, Xiotech solutions minimize risk and maximize value across the spectrum of organizational information management. Xiotech's Business Consulting Group provides a range of modular service offerings that integrate information risk management, electronic data discovery and incident management capabilities to address the growing compliance demands facing today's corporations and public entities. Xiotech is based in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, and maintains major facilities in Norwich, Connecticut; Vancouver, Washington; and Hyderabad, India. For more information, visit www.xiotech.com/ , email info@xiotech.com or call toll free 1.866.472.6764
Source: Xiotech Corporation
CONTACT:
Kira Jorvig,
Xiotech,
+1-952-346-6317,
kjorvig@webershandwick.com
Web site: www.xiotech.com/
