Keeping the Old System

Retention duties, readable archives, and judging which parts of a retired system you will still need to open several years from now.

Keeping the Old System August 29, 2026 Data Archiving Best Practices: Readable in 2031 A dump you cannot open is a dump you do not have. The formats, index, manifest and yearly rehearsal that keep a retired system readable five years on. 12 min read
Keeping the Old System August 19, 2026 Data Retention Requirements After You Cancel Cancelling the vendor does not stop the retention clock. Which records you must still produce, in what form, and how to get them into files you own. 9 min read

About this section

Marcus Trewin has spent years doing the unglamorous half of software changeovers for small companies — pulling the data out, rebuilding what the importer dropped, and working out the order the cancellation has to happen in. He holds no vendor certifications and claims no industry accreditation. Every page here carries a "Verified against <vendor> documentation on <date>" line and links to the official document it was checked against, so you can re-check it yourself when the vendor changes something.

More about Exit Clause

Topics

How this is checked

Every guide cites the agency, statute, or document it was checked against, and carries the date it was checked. Rules change — if something here is out of date, tell us and it gets corrected.