Records management in the cloud: a multidimensional issue

“Capstone” approach to e-mail eases move to the cloud

In a bulletin issued by the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) in August 2013, government agencies were given the option of classifying e-mails as records depending on the role of the author rather than on the contents of the message. Each agency decides which roles or level of employee will determine whether an e-mail is a record. That approach, called Capstone, removes the burden from each author of determining whether an e-mail constitutes a record. In addition, the policy specifies requirements for using personal (non-agency) communication tools when conducting agency business.

The policy helps make it feasible for agencies to comply with the White House mandate that e-mail be managed electronically by Dec. 31, 2016, by simplifying decisions related to records declaration. Records declaration is automated, which is a boon to agencies that are already facing the challenges of a transition to the cloud.

Some agencies have found e-mail management to be such a challenge that they ended up using the e-mail client software as an archive rather than moving the messages to a system with retention and metadata management. NARA successfully went to a cloud implementation for its own e-mail in Google Apps in the space of six months, and uses ZL Technologies’ United Archive, a cloud-based message storage and electronic records management solution, for records management. As the government gains more experience, knowledge can be shared, and the transition process should become smoother.

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