Recordkeeping in Today's Regulatory Environment

Imagine yourself six years from today: Your organization has just received notice of a pending legal action. You've been ordered to produce all records related to the case issue, dating back five years. Are the records on paper? Saved as images? Were corresponding e-mails sent? Do these records still exist? Where do you start? Would your existing records management practices stand up in court?

History of Records and Information Management

The truth is, organizations have always struggled with the management of their information. As society moved into the information age, the amount and types of information grew at an exponential rate, causing organizations even more information management discord. Many large organizations and government agencies adopted records management principles to gain control of their paper records; however, far too often, organizations chose to ignore their records until a crisis took place. Advancements in technology introduced records management and document management applications, oftentimes running parallel to one another, but both implemented to improve the efficiencies of organizations. Records management software was designed to manage the classification, preservation and destruction of paper records. Document management applications focused on the storage and retrieval of scanned documents and electronic records. The fundamental difference between the applications was that records management software applied a lifecycle approach to managing records (records retention and destruction), while document management applications were primarily managed through the IT department, whose focus was on efficient storage and retrieval, with limited or no understanding of the records lifecycle and records management controls. Each process or methodology managed some of the information on some of the media (paper or electronic) some of the time.

Recent corporate scandals have redefined the role of records and information management. Arthur Andersen, Enron and WorldCom are just a few examples that have made corporate management aware of the importance of records management. Regulations such as Sarbanes-Oxley, CFR 21 Part 11, and HIPAA have now put substantial consequences to the mismanagement of information.

Corporate accountability, regulatory compliance and legal risk management have become driving forces for records management in today's organizations. Now more than ever, the lack of management controls over business records means increased legal risk.

In today's regulatory environment, it is considered both unwise and risky for organizations to implement information management solutions without records management controls.

Recordkeeping Revolution

The bottom line is this: organizations, in order to be compliant with today's regulations, must manage their information in an accountable manner, ensuring the reliability and trustworthiness of corporate records. Regardless of the media on which records are stored (e-mail, paper, PC file, etc.), all records must be managed consistently, according to corporate policies and legal requirements. The new revolution in information management is recordkeeping.

Recordkeeping combines proven records management controls with document management solutions and includes:

• Records classification;

• Records retention;

• Audit trail;

• Records security;

• Version control;

• Management of paper records;

• Management of electronic records/desktop files;

• Management of document images; and

• Management of e-mail.

The benefits of a recordkeeping solution include:

• Regulatory compliance;

• Corporate accountability;

• Reduced legal risk;

• Improved access to information;

• Improved efficiency and productivity;

• Reduced costs;

• Reduced storage space requirements; and

• Improved decision-making.

A Recordkeeping Solution

It is important to remember that software does not make an organization compliant. The organization's recordkeeping practices, policies and procedures do. While regulatory compliance is a highly compelling reason to implement a recordkeeping solution, it isn't the only reason. Every organization, regardless of size, can benefit from a recordkeeping solution. And ... a recordkeeping solution doesn't have to cost a bundle.

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Smead is uniquely positioned to apply over 97 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.