What is a system of record?

A system of record (SOR) is a data management term for a high priority information storage and management system. It serves as the authoritative data source for mission critical information. This is important when data comes from different source systems, is reprocessed and then used again.

Systems of record are also codified by government agencies like the US General Services Administration that define systems of record as:

“Systems of records – a system of record is a group of records from which information is retrieved by the name of an individual, or by any number, symbol, or other unique identifier assigned to that individual.”

A system of record (SOR) can be critical when different organizations rely on the same piece of information (for a customer, product, address, etc.) to avoid incorrect analyses or interpretation of that data. An agreed system of record requires that the data elements must be linked to, or extracted directly from an authoritative source.

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