IAITAM Head: IRS Explanation of Lost Emails Does Not Seem Plausible

CANTON, Ohio, June 26, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ --Who destroyed the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) email hard drives?  When were the drives destroyed?  Where is the documentation that goes with such destruction?

According to International Association of Information Technology Asset Managers (IAITAM) founder and president Dr. Barbara Rembiesa, those are the three key questions that Congress and others should be asking about testimony from IRS Commissioner John Koskinen's testimony that emails to and from Lois Lerner have been lost. 

Rembiesa noted that Koskinen testified the email loss was due to a hard drive crash and subsequent destruction.

Rembiesa said:  "The notion that these emails just magically vanished makes no sense whatsoever.  That is not how IT asset management at major businesses and government institutions works in this country.  When the hard drive in question was destroyed, the IRS should have called in an accredited IT Asset Destruction (ITAD) professional or firm to complete that process, which requires extensive documentation, official signoffs, approvals, and signatures of completion.  If this was done, there would be records.  If this was not done, this is the smoking gun that proves the drive or drives were destroyed improperly – or not at all."

Rembiesa said it is inconceivable that a federal agency handling the personal financial data of millions of Americans would not be using ITAD experts to destroy hard drives.     

"If Congress wants to get to the bottom of this, we can put together a team of IT asset management experts who can find out if this was done properly or improperly," Rembiesa said.   "This is not rocket science, but you have to have the real experts on hand to get to the bottom of this."

ABOUT IAITAM

The International Association of Information Technology Asset Managers, Inc., the professional association for individuals and organizations involved in any aspect of IT Asset Management, Software Asset Management (SAM), Hardware Asset Management, Mobile Asset Management, IT Asset Disposition and the lifecycle processes supporting IT Asset Management in organizations of every size and industry across the globe. IAITAM certifications are the only IT Asset Management certifications that are recognized worldwide. For more information, visit www.iaitam.org, or the IAITAM mobile app on Google Play or the iTunes App Store.

SOURCE International Association of Information Technology Asset Managers