What issues have the greatest impact on Records Management today?That is, they are redefining, even revolutionizing both the theory and practice of records management, and will continue to do so for years to come.While every such list is inherently arbitrary / judgmental, here is mine . . .

The growing role of RM as a significant issue in organizational managementRMs role in the transition to the management of electronic records in the (nearly) paperless officeRMs role in the new environment for regulatory compliance and litigation risk reductionRMs role in enhancing enterprise accessibility of information contentThe impact of September 11th and RMs role in enhancing information protectionGetting to (nearly) perfect in records retentionThe role of electronic records retention in improved data life cycle managementBringing records management / retention to the desktop, messaging and backup environmentsThe significance of the new software solutions for electronic records managementThe role of RM in digital preservation

With the recent spate of business scandals, now for the first time ever records have become pivotal in determining the fate of organizations! In the case of Arthur Andersen LLP vs. the United States, for the first time ever, a hitherto great corporation was virtually destroyed by acts related directly to records disposal, in which retention practices were a major issue.

Higher strategic valueHigher customer / client expectationsGreater technical expertise requiredMuch higher rates of growthGreater accessibility challengesGreater consequences of lossMuch shorter life expectancy and greater preservation challengesAll of these make RM more important than ever before!

Many records managers still cling tenaciously and irrationally to the notion that paper will be with us forever; that the long-awaited but hitherto unrealized paperless office is and will remain a myth.I will give you my opinions and invite yours!!!

Just because it hasnt happened during the last 30 years doesnt mean it wont happen during the next 30!During the last 30 years, electronic records have become much more prevalent and prolific, relative to their paper counterparts.And their importance has skyrocketed while that of paper records has gradually declined.

The decisive factor in the transition to the less-paper office is . . . . . . Different behavior patterns on the part of the next generation of office workers.Our children and grandchildren do not and will not use filing cabinets when they take our places in the offices of today and tomorrow!!!

Since the passage of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (and the new regulatory and other legal initiatives that resulted) regulatory compliance, e-discovery and litigation risk reduction have been the key drivers for new records management initiatives in the U.S. SOX changes executive perceptions about records management, as nothing had ever done before!

RMs goal should be to ensure that the organizations recordkeeping systems are being managed such that the integrity of their information content can meet the tests of authenticity, integrity and reliability.In short full compliance, in letter, spirit and good faith!

The presence or absence of records can be either favorable or unfavorable . . . . . . exculpatory or incriminating.

The best strategy: Retain only whats needed to operate the company, comply with the law, and meet reasonable needs to retain history!

Information accessibility: Its the foundation for world-class records management!Wherever records management is practiced at an advanced level, the existence and location of all information content must be known, and precise and timely retrieval must be the rule rather than the exception, so that the organizations recordkeeping systems effectively support its larger business objectives.Information accessibility is a strategic business issue and needs to be managed as such.

Her real passion in life was the perfection of a filing system beside which all other filing systems should sink into oblivion. She dreamed of such a system at night.

Source: Agatha Christie, How Does Your Garden Grow, 1931.

An organization may possess a single kernel of information upon which its entire future rests, but if those who seek it cannot find it, the golden nugget is worthless.

The system delivers all the documents / information requested and no others.The system delivers all the documents desired, as well as others deemed not relevant.The system delivers some of the requested documents, but not all.The system delivers some documents, none, however, are deemed relevant.The system delivers no documents at all and some are known to exist that are relevant to the query.It is the task of RM to ensure that No. 1 occurs consistently across the enterprise!

There is a persuasive, even compelling, argument that protecting organizational information from loss due to disaster whether due to natural, technical or human causes is the most important aspect of records management.

Most organizations could lose all their paper records and survive.No so for computer records!A large-scale data loss would likely be cataclysmic and irrecoverable!

Organizations should adopt the long-term goal of converting to digital format every paper-based recordkeeping system of mission-critical importance as soon as resources and priorities allow. Records managers should survey all such applications, and develop a plan for conversion from paper to digital format that can be implemented over a period of several years. This will permit the records to be backed up off-site.For all mission-critical recordkeeping systems, we recommend that organizations give themselves 5 years to get out of paper.

Sadly, most records retention programs are not organized around success. Most have no long-term management plan or strategy for achieving success.So, just like every self-fulfilling prophesy, success in retention remains elusive!

1. Active paper records at departmental workstations2. Inactive paper records in storage facilities3. Personal working papers kept in desks, credenzas and bookcases4. Data in computer applications managed by IT5. Electronic records in desktops, controlled by their creators

Organizations should establish a 5-year goal of applying retention rules in all 5 recordkeeping environments.Poorly managed warehouse storage and IT-managed system applications will require at least 3 years.

Regardless of whether they used for the storage of paper or electronic records, every storage repository must be managed such that the content is fully accessible, readily retrievable, and safe and secure. Moreover, the life cycle of the content in all repositories must be properly managed under approved retention rules and policies.

What happens to computer data as it ages?Does the value of data increase or decrease as time passes?Do storage management requirements change as data ages through its life cycle?In the world of paper, these are questions that records managers have addressed for decades!But not in the world of IT, where retention has not been widely practiced.

A largely invisible problem no physical / visible manifestations.In some situations, its cheaper to retain than purge.For decades, IT had carte blanche to buy all the storage they wanted no questions asked!No strong advocate among key stakeholder groups.

IT departments Data retention not a priority; no methodology or expertise.Vendors Driven by customer priorities. Data retention not historically an issue. But this is changing!Data owners Usually content to take whatever data they can get.

The total cost of managed storage now rivals or exceeds the investment in systems and servers, and often accounts for 50% or more of total IT spending. Data storage costs will rise to three-quarters of all IT spending over the next few years.

Source: Storage Inc.

In most organizations, the desktop is an records management basket case generally under-managed or mismanaged.But this is where most of the work of organizations is done!Approx. 56% of all digital content resides here.To bring better records management to the desktop is one of the biggest records management challenges today.

Many e-mail users retain hundreds, even thousands, of e-mails, in their messaging environment. This is not best but worst practice! A top records management priority is to ensure that the messaging system is not morphed from an e-post office into an unmanaged archive!

When you go home tonight, youll get your mail out of your mailbox.There will be bills, magazines, and junk mail.Youll discard the junk mail, put the magazines on the coffee table or night stand, and put the bills in the pending file for payment.But you wont put any mail back in the mailbox!Well, thats exactly whats happening in the digital environment!!!

Asking users to classify 30 to 60 or more e-mails per day in accordance with a taxonomy and save them to an ERMS or ECM solution is not practical aint gonna happen!!!Therefore, a simpler strategy, one which minimizes user involvement and decision-making, is required.The only practical, realistic solution: A uniform maximum retention period, accompanied by aggressive daily management by users!

. . . A uniform maximum retention period, of pre-determined length, is established by policy.It is effectuated by automatically transferring, without user involvement or decision-making, all e-mail remaining in employees mailboxes when the messages have aged 90 days to a dedicated e-mail archival repository, where they will remain for the duration of the approved uniform maximum retention period.When the messages have aged to the duration of the uniform maximum retention period, they will be purged, again without user intervention or decision-making.To operationalize this strategy, youll need an e-mail archiving tool (software solution).

Not less than 3 years, nor longer than 7 years!The average retention of all records kept by American business falls within this range!Because of system obsolescence, 10 years is the longest practical retention period, but its usually much longer than needed.Three years should be sufficient to meet the test of reasonableness and good faith. If you want to be more conservative, go to 5, 6 or 7 years.

(1) E-mail of transitory value must be deleted on a daily basis.This requires 10 to 15 minutes per day.(2) E-mail of long-term value (for which the retention exceeds the uniform maximum period) must be saved in a separate repository that can satisfy its retention period:Printed and filed in paper format.Saved to another software application (ERMS, ECM, or other solution).Do these things, and your e-mail retention problems will be over!

Today, for the first time ever, the goal of total life cycle management, through a retention methodology supported by computer software, is within reach!This is the holy grail of RM!At present, a total of 52 software solutions have been certified under DoD 5015.2!More good news: Retention functionality is increasingly being built into native software applications!

For decades, records management was perceived as tangential to the larger enterprise information management agenda because large computer companies werent in the records management business. But, in the last five years, things have changed: In 2002 IBM acquired Tarian Software and announced plans to integrate records management capabilities across its entire software portfolio. In 2006, IBM enhanced its position in the market by its acquisition of FileNet. In 2003 EMC acquired Documentum and launched an Information Lifecycle Management business.In 2006, Oracle acquired Stellent.These and other developments have the potential to elevate records management to another level of legitimacy as an information management initiative of enterprise strategic significance.

Retention functionality in native applicationsERMS softwareIntegrated EDMS / ERMS softwareFixed-content archiving solutionsDatabase archiving solutionsE-mail archiving solutions

Our IT department tells me they can support data retention requirements up to 5 years with certainty. From 5 to 10 years, with a little bit of luck. After 10 years, there are no guarantees!Source: Edie Allen, Records Manager (retired) Battelle Memorial Labs

If an organization creates a record in electronic format in, say, the year 2006, and this record will need to be digitally processed and read many years later, how, exactly, can this requirement be supported in a technology environment in which the only constant is rapid change?

1. Records selection2. Storage media selection3. Data migration4. Standardize file formats5. Media recopying6. Metadata management7. Systems documentation8. Media storage and maintenance