Automation + Best Business Practices = Minimized Risk
How many times have you heard "let the computer do the work?" When it comes to records management practices, this statement can be the exact mentality that could increase risk for your company.
In reality, we currently do not have the luxury of fully automatic computer solutions that truly manage all of the basic records management processes. In today's increasing regulatory environment, the need for companies to be able to demonstrate compliance is escalating. CIOs and CFOs are under increased scrutiny to manage corporate risk. More often, IT departments are being pulled into projects with the objective of managing corporate records. The trouble lies with delegating the responsibility to a group that is not trained in records management and lacks the basic understanding of its philosophies. Is this truly the best solution to compliance and risk issues?
The Compliance Challenge
Regulatory compliance has joined the forefront of issues facing CEOs today. According to a recent survey by AIIM International, 11% of the top executive's surveyed said managing information to meet regulatory compliance was one of the three biggest challenges businesses face today. We are seeing courts more serious about records management and compliance issues. Courts are demanding organizations to be in control of their records, and are showing signs of becoming intolerant of those organizations that are not attempting to comply. An example of non-compliance, from the courts' perspectives, is the inability to produce records after being subpoenaed. Changes in legislation are underway to improve the way in which records are requested by, produced for and delivered to the court system. For many organizations, it's no longer a question of "do we need to be compliant?" or "do we need a records management program?" but a matter of "how do we do it?"
The fact is, today, a solution does not exist that takes out all human intervention, or automates completely, all aspects of records management. Remember, as we said above, IT is being held responsible for implementing records management solutions, and, traditionally, they are not versed in records management principles. Corporations are still responsible for having a reliable and compliant records management program. That's the dilemma many organizations face today.
We have learned that it is difficult, at best, to expect employees to consistently classify records, if it is left as a manual process. The strength of records management comes when consistently applying its principles to business documents within the organization. This is how the risk is managed. Because employees do not consistently classify records within the records management system, automation must be considered whenever possible to maintain a trustworthy, reliable records management program. Technology, at the current time, does not ensure all record types within the organization will be automatically classified. Whenever possible, organizations need to carefully automate the records classification process. Manual classification should only be used where automation cannot be achieved today. Manual classification is the step an employee takes to formally declare business records into the organization. When documents are created or received, the employee must determine whether it is a business record, and then define its record type. In this case, when the employee is left to his or her own discretion, inconsistency and lack of reliability come into play with a manual process.
Auto or Manual?
So you may ask, "How should we deal with records management automation today?" Because full-scale automation (auto classification) is still a few years away, it is important to be able to live with a mix of automated and manual processes. At this time, applications will not successfully support automation for all record types. However, auto classification of certain types of records can be accomplished now. You can start using existing technology today, for:
- Incorporating records management procedures into existing business processes using tools, such as workflow; and
- Auto classifying records using metadata or user roles to apply retention rules.
To achieve best practices, you must combine the use of automation for records classification, with records management best practices:
1. Establish records management policies and procedures;
2. Conduct a records inventory (list of all electronic and paper records);
3. Determine a records retention schedule;
4. Define security to control user access to records;
5. Ensure preservation hold order capability to prevent the unauthorized or accidental destruction of records;
6. Train users on policies and procedures; and
7. Audit to ensure the organization is making a good faith effort to consistency apply records management policies and procedures to the organization.
Smead is uniquely positioned to apply over 98 years of records management experience into recordkeeping solutions. Committed to providing innovative solutions for the management of information, Smead has developed a comprehensive line of recordkeeping software.