Throughout the past 25 years, everyone I have known in the secure destruction business has complained that the decision about information disposal is made at too low of a level. Information disposal was a custodial task, ranked with window washing and trash removal, and, so, we dealt with the people who made those decisions.
Like my colleagues, I felt that if I could only sell to the presidents of the companies, I could get them to take information destruction seriously 100 percent of the time. And I had evidence, even if it was circumstantial.
Back then, while traveling, I would often have occasion to discuss what I did for a living. As luck would have it, sometimes it was with other businesspeople of relatively high rank in their companies. Invariably they would get around to saying, "Come to think of it, I have no idea what we are doing with our discarded information. I certainly hope we are destroying it. At least, I would expect that we are."
And that wasn’t the only hint that business owners and top management "got it." When we did get the call to come in and talk, often it was right after the president of the firm found yesterday’s sales numbers blowing around the parking lot. Only then did it get their attention.
So that was the problem: We were not talking to people who had the acumen to appreciate us. But knowing the problem did nothing to help us. While we valiantly tried to deal with top management, we soon discovered that they have lots of things to do. And there are lots of other businesses trying to get their attention, because they, too, believe that only top management can appreciate their value.
However, now, with the buying decision being forced further up the ladder because of governmental intervention, our service is getting the attention of decision makers who are more likely to appreciate the value of information destruction and know better what to expect from that service provider. As that happens, companies in our industry are going to be held to a higher standard—not just a higher standard of security, but a higher standard of expertise about the service.
So the question then becomes, are we ready? The fact is that most of us have adapted to the current low expectations of the marketplace, and so, are not ready.
Can you answer hard questions about employee screening, insurance, legislation, industry trends, particle size, "reasonableness" standards, safe harbors and other important issues and terms relevant to destruction services?
Confidently answer yes, and you are ready. If you answer no, well . .