Before decommissioning an old IT system (a legacy system) you need to assess any ongoing business requirements for the information in the system. The data or records may be needed for further action or reference purposes.
Associated information such as system logs and system documentation and backup tapes should also be assessed.
The business owner of the system, the ICT area and your agency’s information and records management staff should all be consulted about which information should be:
Minimum retention periods for data and records are specified in Records Authorities and General Disposal Authorities.
Once migrated or converted, the information needs to be kept until the business need has finished and the minimum retention period has expired. See Digital Recordkeeping Guidelines if you need further information on these processes.
Records that are still needed for reference or because their minimum retention period has not expired will need to be kept in a readable form.
If the information is covered by a Records Authority, the following tools will help you to assess whether records, in any format, can be kept or destroyed:
An example of a GDA is the Administrative Functions Disposal Authority, which covers common administrative business activities. The National Archives prepares and issues these authorities.
If the information does not need to be covered by a Records Authority:
NAP can be applied when records are not needed as evidence of agency business and do not form part of its corporate records. It is used to authorise the destruction of the record.
The General Disposal Authority for Source Records that have been Copied, Converted or Migrated covers these circumstances.
The GDA has two main purposes:
Once all data and records in the system have been:
the system can be destroyed.