It’s an unfortunate fact that a can of tuna is inventoried and tracked far better than backup tapes in corporate tape libraries. As a shareholder or board member of any corporation, one would expect that tapes containing customer information, personnel files, financial data and vital records would be independently audited on a quarterly or annual basis. Regrettably, an astoundingly large number of the largest US companies do not conduct independent audits of their tape libraries.  The common practice of spot-checking a handful of tapes does not mitigate any risk, it only provides a false sense of security.
 

Can you afford to lose even one tape?

As shown above, with current technology, some tapes can contain an astronomical amount of data. With this vast amount of your financial and corporate information residing on each tapes, how can you afford not to know where every tape is?

The first step in assessing corporate risk is to ask your data processing manager to submit the last independent tape library audit report.  Keep in mind that this should take into account EVERY tape, not just a spot-check or small sample.  Also be aware that offsite vendors should not be considered an independent auditor, since they have a vested interest in not exposing problems.