El Fresko's MagnaStor(TM) ensures compliance for Laserfiche solutions offered by Southern Technology Group

Partnership addresses potential compliance gaps between records management systems and underlying data

CALGARY, and HUNTSVILLE, AL, April 20 /PRNewswire/ - Southern Technology Group ("STG"), a premier provider of document management solutions and leading reseller for Laserfiche, is pleased to announce the addition of MagnaStor(TM) to its solution suite.

STG is integrating El Fresko Technologies' patent-pending MagnaStor(TM) software as the archive repository at the core of its Laserfiche document management solution. This provides STG's customers with the highest level of compliance and transforms their records management program using next-generation, purpose-built technology. MagnaStor(TM) eliminates the risks and potential for failure associated with general purpose file systems, such as Windows NTFS.

"General purpose file systems, even when enhanced with third-party WORM wrappers or filters, are not designed for compliance or e-Discovery," said Mark Fowlie, CEO of El Fresko Technologies. "The file system is the core of any compliance solution and as such, it is imperative that it provides the ability to embed compliance policy and provide an immutable chain of custody. General purpose file systems were never designed for this purpose."

"Businesses in virtually every industry are faced with strict regulatory requirements. As a result, they must consistently enforce records policies that will stand up during an audit," said Robert McCoy, President of Southern Technology Group. "Our MagnaStor(TM) integration ensures there is no compliance control gap between the information stored in a customer's records management system and the file system on which it is hosted. This provides a secure chain of custody and ironclad compliance."

The Importance of Continuous Compliance

The increasing diversity of information systems, platforms, and human factors create exceptional challenges for business in ensuring that compliance policies and procedures are being consistently and continuously applied throughout an organization. Brief outages or control gaps can significantly impact the evidential quality of stored records and elevate the risk of a compliance audit or an e-Discovery failure.

Complicating strong compliance is the inability of traditional file systems to implement continuous, non-discretionary control over all file system contents, including user data and metadata. MagnaStor(TM) overcomes this challenge by providing true WORM (write-once, read-many) operation that can establish the chain of custody for any file and verify its authenticity.

"The integrity of a company's records can be easily challenged unless steps are taken to ensure an unbroken audit history and authenticity of every file. Chain-of-custody weaknesses occur when information systems are subject to discretionary controls," said Jeff Ellestad, Director of Product Management for El Fresko. "MagnaStor(TM) is the first file system that is purpose built to meet the complete and comprehensive needs of compliant archiving and e-Discovery. Corporate compliance and audit objectives are integrated as non-discretionary controls within the file system core as imprinted, permanent policy, which cannot be circumvented. A perpetual journal maintains a record of every approved event, ensuring an irrefutable chain of custody for the file system as a whole as well as every individual file, even across system migrations.

Learn More at the AIIM International Expo

Jeff Ellestad, Director of Product Management for El Fresko Technologies, and Robert McCoy, President of Southern Technology Group, will co-present a session titled "Compliance Decay - why control gaps in records management systems can leave you exposed to compliance and e-Discovery failure" at the upcoming AIIM International Exposition and Conference 2010 (http://www.elfresko.com/News/Events.aspx).

    Where:    AIIM International Expo, Pennsylvania Convention Center,
              Philadelphia, PA

    When:     April 20, 2010, 11:55am - 12:40pm

    Details:  Mr. Ellestad and Mr. McCoy will discuss:

    -   IT governance objectives and implementation gaps in records
        management systems,
    -   Chain-of-custody weaknesses present when information systems are
        subject to discretionary controls, and
    -   An enhanced approach to compliance archiving that delivers a
        fundamental guarantee of continuous, unbreakable compliance oversight
        to avoid compliance and e-Discovery nightmares.

Further information is available by visiting El Fresko Technologies at booth 1837.

To arrange a meeting with El Fresko at AIIM please contact Christine Payne or Adam Bello at [email protected].

ABOUT EL FRESKO TECHNOLOGIES:

El Fresko provides proven, scalable and cost-effective data archiving solutions to protect businesses and preserve their critical data. MagnaStor(TM), the company's patent-pending software solution, offers certainty of data preservation and guaranteed proof of authenticity while leveraging the high performance of magnetic disk. Providing trusted solutions for more than 20 years, El Fresko's software suite includes a range of fast, simple and reliable storage archiving solutions for magnetic and optical media. Learn more at www.elfresko.com.

ABOUT SOUTHERN TECHNOLOGY GROUP:

Since 1996 STG has provided industry proven storage and archival solutions to a wide range of corporate clients. As a solutions integrator for electronic content and records management systems, STG specializes in workflow, integration processes and conversion of legacy systems to current applications. STG is a Laserfiche Professional Development Partner and full service organization with headquarters in Huntsville, AL. Learn more at www.stgp.com.

    FURTHER INFORMATION:

    El Fresko media contact
    Christine Payne or Adam Bello
    Primoris Group
    +1 (416) 489-0092
    [email protected]

    El Fresko sales, pricing and reseller inquiries
    Kimberly Ballendine
    El Fresko Technologies
    +1 (403) 265-5727
    [email protected]

    Southern Technology Group
    Robert McCoy
    +1 (256) 532-1991 x201
    [email protected]

SOURCE El Fresko Technologies