How Records and Information Management can Work Together and Add Value: Part 1
How Records and Information Management can Work Together and Add Value: Part 1
Managing information in the form of corporate data, documents and records is arguably one of the most crucial activities for any organization and its employees. Organizations depend on information to make critical strategic decisions, serve customers, protect legal rights, and process transactions. Most large companies even create entire departments to maximize the value of that information, and help employees quickly and easily access it to make better decisions.
While most organizations recognize the value of effectively managing information, many of them do not dedicate the necessary resources to an important subset of this activity − records management − despite the fact that successful records programs are critical for effectual governance, risk management, reputation protection and strategic decision making. When organizations fail to enact a thorough records management policy, they risk severe penalties for not producing pertinent information when requested, and could be held liable for damages suffered by the corporation or any third party who relied on the documents. This failure to maintain substantive procedures can end up causing severe financial pain and damage to corporate reputations. Under certain legislation, formidable monetary fines could be levied on anyone who advertently or inadvertently alters, destroys, falsifies or covers up entries in records or documents.
Not only is it considered an industry best practice to retain vital records as part of a business continuity plan and to limit the amount of time that is spent searching for data, but there have been several legal decisions issued specifically for records management compliance. The technological training and operational complexities of records management can be daunting, however, and as a result, many information technology professionals are often left in the dark about how to proceed. When handled properly though, information and records management programs can be entirely symbiotic, creating exponentially synergistic cross-program value and risk mitigation.
Before diving into records management best practices, it is important for companies to understand exactly what qualifies as a record. According to ARMA International (Association of Records Managers and Administrators), a record is “evidence of what an organization does, and captures business activities and transactions, such as contract negotiations, business correspondence, personnel files and financial statements. Records can come in many forms including physical paper files, electronic content such as emails, attachments and instant messages, website content, and information captured in various databases.”
The challenge is that each state has varying degrees of regulation that affect each industry differently, and these variances can alter critical aspects of a records management policy such as the definition of a record, the duration of time a record needs to be maintained and the format in which it is retained. Different industries are bound by various legislation, making records management an even more complex and evolving endeavor.
In response to these complex legal requirements that may or may not coincide with operational needs, many companies that operate internationally and domestically across state lines have taken the “hold on to everything” approach. While this may ensure that vital information is not prematurely discarded, it can cause hours of wasted time for office workers searching for potentially mislabeled information, not to mention additional digital and physical storage costs. This loss of time can be significant and can be costly to business continuity Combating the complex legal mandates to keep information, while preventing the possibility for significant loss of time and money when retrieving them, involves a difficult balancing act that many organizations do not realize exists.
Companies today are forced to deal with these strict regulations amidst rapid changes in technology, which place a growing reliance on electronic records. Further, records management is generally not a core competency for most companies. Training employees with different job functions on effective records management can require a dedicated staff or department, and needs to be maintained consistently and training offered frequently to ensure standardized adherence to policies and procedures. As a result of these challenges, many companies turn to records management firms for help in sorting out the intricacies of these critical business processes.
In my next column I’ll spotlight how implementing a records management program that addresses specific needs at all stages of the information lifecycle can help control the price of doing business.
Ken Neal is a certified enterprise content management practitioner (ecmp) and director of corporate communications for Océ Business Services (www.ocesolutions.com), an international leader in managed business process services.
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