Data Disposition When Decommissioning Legacy Systems

The following steps are required when decommissioning legacy systems:

1. System manager sends a request for disposition assessment email to Records Management Services (RMS).
2. RMS assists the requester with finding the retention and archival requirementslisted in the University Records Retention Schedule (UTRRS) for the data and files contained in the system.
   1. Requirements from the UTRRS and the date range of the contents determine final disposition of the data and files in the system.
   2. Data owners may opt to keep legacy system data for a longer period than required by the UTRRS if it has ongoing business/administrative value. (Refer to step 5)
3. RMS contacts the University Digital Archivist for an assessment of the historical value of the data and system software or code .

4. Submit data transition plan to the Data Management Committee (DMC) for approval. (The data transition plan and process is under development; if you have a plan to submit now, contact Diana Urban at durban@austin.utexas.edu.) 

5. RMS sends the requester an authorization to dispose of the data.
6. The system manager disposes of the data in accordance with the RMS authorizing letter. Data that is not approved for destruction may be migrated to a new environment or conditions will be set for ongoing retention in their current location.
   
   1. Data with ongoing business value will be transferred or held for transfer to the replacement system.
   2. Data that is no longer needed for business purposes but has not met UTRRS retention requirements must be transferred to an approved repository if they are not retained in place.
   3. Data that that requires historical preservation must be transferred to an approved repository under the guidance of the University Archivist.
7. When data has been destroyed or transferred in accordance with the authorizing letter, the system manager carrying out the disposition must notify RMS of the final disposition date by email.
8. When all data has been migrated or destroyed and legacy system software, code, documentation, and any other non-data component of the system are no longer required to read it, the software, code, etc. can be disposed in accordance with the disposition authorizing letter from RMS.
   
   1. If the code or documentation is to be preserved for historical value the digital archivist will provide instructions for their transfer.
   2. When the software, code, and documentation for the legacy system have been disposed, the system manager carrying out the disposition must notify RMS of the final disposition date by email.