Businessmodel of Iron Mountain

Customer Segments

Iron Mountain has a niche market business model. The company targets its offerings at organizations wishing to effectively manage records for quick and easy access whilst maintaining high standards of security. Its main customer groups are:

• Federal Government – Federal agencies or organization wishing to improve information security and compliance at lower unit cost.
• Healthcare– Hospitals and medical centers aiming to keep records under control, facilitating better healthcare and to improve disaster recoverability.
• Financial– Insurance companies and capital groups aiming to enhance customer service and improve the retrieval of paper files with secure archiving.
• Entertainment Industry – Sports teams, film companies and licensing companies wanting to digitalize and preserve their decades-long records.
• Life Sciences– Mining and drilling companies, and health sciences companies requiring a formalized records management program and removing complexity from records management. ### Value Proposition

Iron Mountain offers three primary value propositions: Security, reliability and corporate responsibility.

The company, realizing the magnitude of responsibility of protecting its customers’ confidential information, has made security of information its top priority. It continually brings in the latest security tools and techniques to protect its customers’ data. Major steps for ensuring security are:

• Investing in state-of-the-art technology
• Placing multiple security checks for securing data both in transit and in facilities
• Carefully picking new hires
• Training new employees carefully and extensively
• Employing security firms to detect flaws in security system In the last decade alone, the company spent $170 million on the relocation of records from facilities which did not fulfill the strict security measures of the company. In 2007, the company spent more than $16 million on safe transportation of data and evaluation of fire control system for protection of hardcopy data.

The company has always wanted new customers to have confidence while choosing Iron Mountain. It achieves this by strengthening the trust of its already existing customers and thus building a portfolio for itself which brings in new customers in hordes. It has an impressive six-decade record of information management and more than 95% of the Fortune 1000 relies on Iron Mountain.

Iron Mountain is committed to do business ethically and responsibly. It makes best efforts to create an environment in which everyone including the employers, customers, suppliers and shareholders feel respected and valued.

Channels

The primary channel of Iron Mountain is its direct sales and marketing team, which operates in over 1000 facilities in 35 countries; it also acquires customers through its website.

The company offers its information management services through its well-built portfolio, social media pages, publications, direct marketing campaigns, and advertising etc.

Customer Relationships

Iron Mountain’s customer relationship is primarily of a personal assistance nature. Assistance is provided to customers in the form of employee-customer interaction either during sales, after sales, and/or both.

In some cases, there is dedicated personal assistance as well where the where a sales representative is tasked to look after all the requirements and questions of a special set of clients.

Key Activities

The company’s key activities include data management, records storage, disaster recovery, secure shredding and technology escrow services.

Key Partners

Iron Mountain has partnered with industry-leading companies to strengthen their security, compliance and off-site data protection services, providing one-stop data storage and security solutions.

Their new strategic partnership program provides business partners access to their storage expertise, brand-recognized security offerings and extensive client base to grow their business.

Key Resources

The main resources of Iron Mountain are its human resources. They include over 25,000 employees who work in 1000 different facilities in over 35 countries. They also include experienced sales and marketing staff.

Cost Structure

Iron Mountain’s cost structure is value-driven; which offers a premium proposition with employment of frequent enhancements to its product offerings. Its biggest cost driver is cost of sales, a variable expense.

Other major drivers are in the areas of upgrading security system, getting the latest technology, sales/marketing, and administration.

Revenue Streams

Iron Mountain has only one revenue stream: it generates its revenue from the company it renders its data management/records storage/ secure shredding /technology escrow services to.

Pricing for its services depends upon two things: the type of service rendered and the magnitude of the customer’s database.