Purging Incidents

The Incident Purging feature allows administrators to permanently remove outdated incident records from the system. Its primary purpose is to maintain data relevance, comply with organizational data retention policies, and optimize overall database performance. This article is intended for OPS-COM administrators responsible for system maintenance and data lifecycle management.

Setup and Configuration

This feature requires specific administrative permissions to access the deletion tools.

Admin Side: Administrators must have the Delete Incidents permission enabled within their specific user role to purge records. Consult your system administrator or review the Manage Roles and Permissions page for detailed instructions on modifying access levels.

User Side: This feature is strictly a backend administrative tool and is not accessible to end-users on the portal.

Using this Feature

Administrators can use the following instructions to purge outdated incidents either individually through a standard search or in bulk using the dedicated purging utility.

Purging incidents is a permanent and irreversible action. Once an incident is successfully purged from the system, its data cannot be recovered. Exercise extreme caution and verify your selections before confirming any deletion.

Purging Individual Incidents

1. Search for the specific incident you wish to purge using the standard incident search functionality.

2. Review the incident details on the screen and locate the Delete Incident button.

3. Click the Delete Incident button to initiate the removal.

4. Follow the on-screen prompts and confirmation messages to finalize the deletion.

The Delete Incident button will only be active and clickable if the incident record is strictly older than 7 years. If the incident is less than 7 years old, the button will display as Delete Not Available and remain disabled to enforce retention policies.

Purging Incidents in Bulk

1. Hover over Tools and click Purge Incidents to open the search screen.

2. Enter your search criteria into the available fields, such as specific date ranges or incident types.

3. Review the generated list, which is limited to displaying the oldest 300 records that match your criteria.

4. Enable the Delete checkbox next to each specific incident you wish to purge.

5. Click the Purge Records button.

6. Click the Delete button within the confirmation prompt to finalize the action.

When entering a value into the Number of Instances field on the bulk search screen, the system treats it as a "greater than or equal to" variable. For example, supplying the number 1 may still display incidents that have multiple instances attached to them.

Available Actions and Buttons

• Delete Incident: Click this button on an individual incident page to permanently remove that specific record from the database.

• Purge Records: Click this button during a bulk search to simultaneously delete all selected records.

Best Practices and Considerations

• Conduct pre-purge reviews: It is highly recommended to perform a thorough review of all search results before executing a bulk purge. Because bulk deletions process multiple records at once, carefully verifying your selections ensures that no critical data is inadvertently removed.

• Adhere to the 7-year retention rule: Administrators must be aware of the system's built-in 7-year data retention policy. Incidents cannot be purged using the individual button method if they are newer than 7 years, and the bulk purge tool prioritizes older records to prevent premature data loss.

• Restrict deletion permissions: Carefully manage the Delete Incidents permission. Only grant this access level to trusted, senior administrators who fully understand the irreversible nature of database purging.

• Establish a comprehensive audit trail: Ensure your organization has an appropriate backup strategy if long-term historical access to incident data is required for legal compliance. While the active record is cleared from the database to optimize performance, you may still need offline archives for future reference.