With the legislation outlined by the ECT Act looming in the background, many companies and government departments have been waiting for the final word, feeling like they have a guillotine hanging over their heads. The reason for this apprehension is simple. By the time the act is gazetted, these entities will have a relatively short space of time to get their information lifecycle management (ILM) strategies in place and provide for what the act stipulates.

In terms of these requirements, companies will need to have facilities in place for the archival and time stamping of all forms of correspondence with customers and partners, not to mention the ability to archive and store sensitive information for a ‘yet to be determined` length of time. Archived data must also be stored in a ‘non-tamperable` format.