filing cabinet with open drawers

The challenge: Modernization requires better public records management.

Take control of the full records lifecycle.

Turn oceans of paper into digital assets.

Iron Mountain helps public sector organizations turn paper-bound records into searchable, usable digital information. We inventory and prioritize what to scan, then digitize high-value collections with appropriate security, quality checks, and metadata so content can be found and trusted.

Moving critical records out of boxes and into governed digital repositories ensures agencies can respond faster, streamline workflows, and create the clean data foundation they need for analytics, automation, and AI.

From legacy backfile to ready information.

Make sense of decades of accumulated content. Iron Mountain inventories and analyzes what you have stored in boxes, file rooms, and shared drives, then identifies what to keep, digitize, or defensibly destroy.

By applying consistent rules, metadata, and disposition to legacy holdings, we reduce storage bloat and compliance risk while surfacing the records that still matter.

Your information is cleaner, more manageable, and ready to support modern digital initiatives.

Related services: Records management | Smart records cleanup suite

Typing on laptop digital overlay

Government records management capabilities

Government records management capabilities

Digital rendering
Digital rendering
Digital rendering
Globe North America

Protect critical government records, preserve secure access.

With a nationwide network of secure records centers, Iron Mountain stores public sector records close enough for fast retrieval but far enough to reduce local risk. We implement controlled entry, documented chain of custody, and environmental protection, with secure document shredding services and 24-hour scan-on-demand access to records.

By reducing risk and improving secure access, you gain clear visibility into what you have, where it is, and how quickly you can get it.

Real outcomes for government agencies.

For decades, Iron Mountain has been trusted by government agencies to manage records securely, compliantly, and efficiently.

  • 3B
    Documents digitized/year
  • 90%
    Less labor to find records after major federal agency digitized 4.3B images
  • 27M
    Personnel files digitized at a civilian records agency

We make it easy to get started.

Frequently asked questions

What physical security and compliance tiers, including Classified and NARA-compliant storage, does Iron Mountain’s nationwide facility network provide?

Government records often require security protocols that standard commercial warehouses simply cannot support. Iron Mountain operates a highly specialized, nationwide network of secure records centers engineered to meet stringent public sector requirements:

  • NARA-Compliant Facilities: We offer strategically located facilities that meet NARA (National Archives and Records Administration) 36 CFR Part 1234 standards for physical security, fire safety, and environmental controls.
  • Classified Storage: For highly sensitive defense and intelligence assets, we provide specialized facilities with cleared personnel, strict access controls, and infrastructure built to secure classified physical media.
  • Environmental & Disaster Mitigation: Our facilities feature advanced climate zoning, seismic bracing, and dry-pipe fire suppression systems to protect irreplaceable historical and civic archives from natural disasters.
How does Iron Mountain help government agencies implement defensible disposition to eliminate legacy paper backlogs safely?

Public sector agencies cannot simply throw away old files. To destroy government records, you must follow strict, legally binding retention schedules.

Our Smart Records Cleanup suite takes the risk and guesswork out of backfile reduction:

  • We locate the records that matter through inventory and analysis of your legacy boxes, mapping them against your official retention schedules.
  • Using Smart Sort, we group records by destruction eligibility dates, identifying exactly what must be retained, what should be digitized, and what can be safely destroyed.
  • Records that have reached retention and are disposition-eligible are destroyed through secure, witnessed shredding that complies with federal standards and issued a Certificate of Destruction for your compliance audit trail.
How does Iron Mountain’s Scan-on-Demand service support hybrid government workforces and urgent public records requests?

As public sector workforces shift from in-office to remote and back to hybrid models, physical-only record archives can paralyze operations. Further, when an urgent FOIA or audit request comes in, agencies cannot afford to wait days for physical delivery of offsite records.

Iron Mountain bridges the accessibility gap with our 24-hour Scan-on-Demand pipeline:

Rapid Digital Delivery: If an authorized government employee needs a physical file stored in our secure facilities, they request it via our web portal. Our team retrieves the document, scans it, and uploads a secure digital copy in under 24 hours.

CJIS & FedRAMP Secure Transmission: Digital files are not sent over unsecure email. Instead, they are routed through our highly secure, encrypted digital platforms that meet CJIS and FedRAMP standards.

Seamless Integration: The digitized document is immediately ready to be fed into your agency's active digital workflows, databases, or case management systems.

Public sector resources