More Tapes Go AWOL

3:45 PM -- Citigroup says data on 3.9 million customers of its CitiFinancial Branch Network fell off a UPS truck on its way to a credit bureau.

Why is Citigroup, clearly a big-bucks organization, still messing with tape, when a horde of disk-backup companies are begging for its business? (See Diskers Enjoying Tape Woes.)

Now, Citigroup shouldn't be singled out. Ameritrade, Bank of America, and Time Warner Inc. (NYSE: TWX) are in the same club -- the club where IT is so decentralized that a companywide policy is unworkable.

Consider that Citigroup has been listed as a customer by Sepaton Inc. (see Sepaton Unveils New VTL). And, believe it or not, Time Warner has its own disaster recovery service for business customers (see Storage Services Surge). Too bad you and I know more about what some divisions are using than headquarters does.

So... another wakeup call. Kevin Kessinger, executive VP of the Citigroup local Consumer Group and president of Consumer Finance North America, says that's it for couriers."Beginning in July, this data will be sent electronically in encrypted form, he said in a prepared statement.

— Mary Jander, Site Editor, Byte and Switch