Records Management

Records Management

What is Records Management?

Records management refers to the process of determining, categorizing, storing, and destroying business records and documents. Records can be defined as any information created or received by an organization, whether in paper or electronic digital form. Typically, corporations have a records manager or management team responsible for any business information or activities that are in the form of records; they oversee the continual management of documents throughout their life term including the maintenance and use of such records.

What does a Records Management process entail?

The entire records management process is all encompassing of all policies and regulations (whether legal or implemented by the corporation) that may pertain to a business record.

The creation, implementation, and enforcement of up-to-date records policies, a cataloging system for records, and a records retention policy.

Establishing an archival procedure for both the short and long term storage of both digital and tangible physical records. This includes policies in regards to destroying records.

Making sure new and existing documents are subjected to the records retention and operating procedures that are in place.

Traditionally, records management methods have been paper based but with further technological advancements, more and more companies are making the switch to electronic records management systems.

Why is Records Management necessary?

While most companies have records management policies in place, less than 33% of such businesses actually enforce them, and less of 50% of users (employees) actually comply with such policies. Obviously, such a lack of enforcement poses potential risk for any corporation: the process of eDiscovery can be tedious and costly and priceless intellectual property and critical business information is left unprotected. While your business may have records management policies in place, they are only effective and successful if users actually adhere to them.

Utilizing risk management software to enforce document retention policies is a cost-effective and convenient solution. Not only will these ensure all your business documents are protected, but end users can easily adhere to retention policies. Once users classify a document, the software begins tracking each version of the document in the background so no additional work is required of the user. It also enables you to monitor what is going on with the documents throughout users' systems from one central location.

Bottom line is that records management is vital for any corporation because it protects invaluable information and enables end users to easily comply with document retention policies.

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Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/expert/Aubrey_Nichols/130416

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_(By Aubrey Nichols).