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IForem: Online Data Storage for Life

Providing a host of services and what you might call a digital version of a safe deposit box, iForem, a Calif.-based digital archiving company, says it adds a new twist to online storage: peace of mind. Behind its core offerings lies an irrevocable trust that, according to iForem’s CEO Stephen Pieraldi, ensures that your data […]

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Lauren Simonds

Jan 17, 2008

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Providing a host of services and what you might call a digital version of a safe deposit box, iForem, a Calif.-based digital archiving company, says it adds a new twist to online storage: peace of mind. Behind its core offerings lies an irrevocable trust that, according to iForem’s CEO Stephen Pieraldi, ensures that your data is safe and available forever.

“The iNuity financial trust guarantees that customers will have whatever they buy from iForem for life, even if the company goes out of business,” said Pieraldi. “It’s an irrevocable Delaware trust, and it makes any purchaser a service beneficiary. Should iForem ever go out of business, customers will continue to receive services [provided by a different company], and any new provider can’t change the terms of service.”

The company’s one-time payment pricing model also sets it apart from other online data backup companies. You purchase the service and that’s it – there’s no monthly subscription fee.

IForum offers four “digital lifestyle tools” complete with the capability to share access with whomever you choose:

Perpetual Password Wallet: A secure online location for all your Web site names, URLs, usernames and passwords. Price: $9.95.
Licensing Tracker: One location where you can organize and back up your software license information and activation codes. Price: $9.95.
Recipe Collector: (Yes, we think it’s an odd departure from the business world, too). One place for your favorite recipes, complete with author, details of ingredients and directions. Price: $9.95.
Digital Lifestyle Suite: This bundle includes the three above-mentioned tools and adds a contacts manager, journal, inventory minder and receipt tracker. Price: $29.95

A Virtual Vault
The iForem Vault provides storage for small business owners to permanently store their critical business files. While many people use storage as a dumping ground for saving every file imaginable – due to the availability of huge, cheap hard drives – Pieraldi cautions that the iForem Vault is designed for critical files.

“This isn’t where you go to backup your laptop. The Vault is for the eight to 20 files you can’t live without,” he said. “This is the place for the stuff you’d put in a safe deposit box.”

He added that he stores all the documents he needed to create iForem as a legal entity in his Vault. Those include the articles of corporation, the first original minutes and subsequent minutes from the company’s board meetings, I-9 data, operating contracts, executive compensation contracts and the Delaware trust. “That’s about 120 MB of data, or $125,” Pieraldi said.

Tim O’Neal, president, GoSmart Inc., sees the benefit of this type of back up option. “Not only is iForem’s lifetime digital vault easy to use, it more importantly ensures that our data is always secure and available,” he said in a written statement. “Because iForem safeguards our business critical data we are prepared in the event of a disaster caused by human or natural events. As a result, we are also able to meet rising regulatory requirements

The Basic Vault costs a one-time payment of $20 for 20MB of data, which the company said could hold 40 iPhone pictures, 150 PDF documents and 400 word documents. You’ll find more on Vault capacity and pricing options here.

In addition to capacity, a Vault also offers the following features:

Deep Freeze: This permanently locks any folder or document. It can’t be removed, altered or edited in any way.
Lock Box: Place files in this area to let other people view them.
Drop Box: Let other people enter records in this area.
Access Control: Lets you determine which people can (or can’t) access particular documents.
Retention Manager: This feature lets you specify how long you keep a document in the vault.

iForem one-time Vault pricing starts at $20 for 20MB and can scale up to 1GB for $1,024.00.

This article was first published on SmallBusinessComputing.com.