InfoInsight

Why IT Needs RM

Why Information Technology Needs Records Management

Historically, Records Management has been viewed as clerical in nature, requiring minimal skill or education to work within the ranks of records clerks. The realities of industry trends have replaced this view with one of importance and substantial controls and accountabilities.

Considering the advent of technologies, and a seemingly unending ability to make records, the Information Technologists of today are faced with legal requirements directly relating to traditional records management. In short, business and industry can no longer accumulate massive holdings of paper and electronic records without concern for the legal requirements of record keeping. Records Managers experienced with managing Records Retention Schedules and classifying records according to exacting Record Series, have become the cornerstone by which business and government base their record retention durations.

Records Management is necessary to manage the endless growth of records resources, both paper and electronic. There has been a growing interdependence between traditional Information Technology (IT) and the legal requirements of record keeping. This trend has caused a demand to track all record holdings according to a legally responsive Records Retention Schedule.

Many progressive businesses and government entities have embraced the concept of considering their records management program vital to the bottom line productivity and accountability of the organization. It is common to find other companies in today’s newspapers being stung by records subpoenas and records discovery processes. Their files are subpoenaed and examined by a plaintiff. This almost always leads to questionable findings, suggested mischief, or down-right illegal activities.

Records Management has the potential to bring a wealth of knowledge to an organization (having complete knowledge of content), enabling swift and accurate retrievals, and the destruction of records once their useful life has been reached.

Give Yourself a Report Card

What is your Records Management Report Card?  Defining a typical business or government agencies performance compared with modern day requirements for records management.

As a Certified Records Manager and consultant of 30 years, I searched many different approaches to educate clients on industry requirements for running a records program. Finally, after many trials and frustrations in presenting a clients performance and compliance, I found a good alternative – a Report Card.

The traditional school Report Card tends to drive home the key points to having and maintaining a records program. Everyone understands an A!   Everyone also understands a D or F.

Here is a quick and simple example:

Records Management Industry Requirement	A	B	C	D	F
Records Management Policies
Records Management Procedures
Records Program Ownership
Legally Responsive Records Retention Schedule
Legally Responsive Records Destruction Process
Inactive Records Storage and Management
Records Training Program at the Department Level
Program Enforceability
Annualized Audits
Vital Records Protection Program
Electronic Records Management Strategy
Electronic Records Destruction Policy and Procedures

If you take the most common elements required in a legally responsive records management system and grade the company or agency according to a simple report card structure, it becomes easy to demonstrate areas of opportunity.

Example:

If your Records Management GPA is:

          3.2-4.0 Go into the RM business... people need your help and you are way ahead of the curve

          2.5-3.0 Write an article for your trade journal about RM in your industry

          1.5-2.4 Seek Immediate Help

          2.0-1.4 Start an off-shore tax shelter under an assumed name (just kidding)

Once in awhile a client will change the name of the report card In order to soften the grade. If this is the case in your organization here are a few of the alternate titles for the report card (these are real!)

·        Structured Comparative Analysis of RM Functionality

·        RM System Status and Performance Analysis

·        Program Status Review

·        Compliance

Opportunity

Checklist

·        Definition and Process Overview

·        Etc…

Which ever title may be the most appropriate for you, give yourself a Records Management Report card in order to define all of those exciting opportunities!

Institutional Memory - Legacy or Lethargy

Institutional Memory – Legacy or Lethargy?

What price have we paid for corporate knowledge and memory?  Has the advent of technology enabled us to amass more information than we can use or manage? Do you understand today’s current legal demands for information management?

Exploring these questions and defining critically accurate answers is for most a totally new set of circumstances requiring new skills and knowledge to navigate a strengthened world of checks, balances and measures.

The ramifications of new laws, regulations and citations have created a complex infrastructure of “Must Do’s” for business and government. As we traditionally have not been motivated by Records and Information Management we have amassed huge accumulations of paper and electronic information. Often times referring to these holdings as “Legacy” records, what has really happened is we have lost our understanding of what we have and where it is located. Endless rooms stacked with miss-matched boxes, without indexes to their contents, some stored in attics, basements, or frozen tractor trailers in the back yard!  As we have transcended the mass production of paper records we have mirrored our accumulation practices on computer and network infrastructure.  At one point in time we used to hear “storage is free” from the IT guy – little did we know every record is discoverable, and can and will be used against us in a court of law.

As technological industries struggle to electronically classify electronic records and track their lifecycle and eventual destruction through software, there are simply too many technological alternatives to control. We cannot simply destroy old records of which we have no knowledge of content because that would raise issues of the deliberate destruction of potential evidence. What this means is we must identify and understand every paper or electronic record and justify their destruction based on a legally responsive records retention schedule and associated policies and procedures. 

To further complicate matters, if your software program has the capability to destroy records and does so by erasing the reference location (metadata) and not the record itself, then the record is still discoverable through custom search engines used frequently in today’s legal discovery processes.

Finally, if you consider email and the ramifications of millions of discrete messages flying in & out of you control on a routine basis experts of today can trace your emails to other email server locations beyond your control again facilitating a discovery process.

This is all way too complicated!  My point is simple; our legacy accumulation of records is as much a burden to maintain and destroy as it was to build. Today’s laws demand compliance and living without concern or deliberate concentrated effort to meet these demands will find you exposed to information risks.

As a closing thought, wherever you are and whatever you do you probably read the newspaper. Focus on articles associated with records and information. It is inevitable that almost every day someone is suing someone else as a result of what was found in records and information (especially email). The federal government is another huge resource for tracking what is possible through searching records.  After learning about our information habits ask yourself “what have I accumulated and how might that affect me over time”?   

Has information technology outpaced our knowledge of what it can do to us?

Has information technology outpaced our understanding of what it can do to us?

I feel compelled to explore some realities that suggest we may not fully understand what information technologies can do to us (instead of for us).

Last weekend, I was honored to have presented "Taming the Digital Beast" with Joan Feldman, founder of Computer Forensics and currently with Navigant Consulting. Joan's knowledge and savvy enables her to search out just about anything that’s ever been written on your computing infrastructures. This includes some of today’s newer technologies such as IPods and handhelds. Instant messaging, for instance, is a targeted and viable resource to help build legal cases and win litigation.  I doubt even seasoned IT experts fully understand what is possible through the "Electronic Discovery" process.

Primarily driven by corporate scandal of the past decade, it is now clear that anything you've written in email, or in any other electronic form, can usually be re-built, re-opened, dissected, and all of the sudden what you thought was gone forever is now in your face.

The dichotomy for me was to fully embrace the use of technology, to make us better, faster, more productive etc. and then realize that in the process we’re building undeniable evidences of our actions…the good, the bad and the ugly.

A seasoned executive friend of mine told me once, if you stay more than 5 or 6 years in a job assignment, your past decisions tend to come back around. Some prove valuable and humane, others disappointing and cut-throat. I guess this thinking can be paralleled with today’s vibrant and fascinating technological accomplishments. I believe every time we make quantum improvements to information related technologies, we are building tighter and tighter reins around our business decision making and communications. In time I could even envision a culture making a cognizant decision to avoid these technologies altogether – they’re too dangerous and incriminating.

As our technological evolution continues, and our culture demands greater and greater evidence of our performance, perhaps we should all take a moment to contemplate the ramifications of the trails we leave and how effective some are at meticulously re-tracing our steps.

As a Certified Records Management Consultant, I urge caution and due diligence for those living the technological dream - because everything you email, message, voice mail or send electronically can and will be put on a billboard for the entire world to view.

Charting Your Records Management Course - Gaining Management Support

Attracting Management attention and support for a new or re-emphasized Records Management (RM) Program requires careful consideration prior to stepping into action. Unless you are a records management company, archives or records storage as your core business it may be challenging to gain support for a new RM endeavor. The problem is that most companies core line of business has nothing to do with records, and that records and information are merely a bi-product of making money and supporting the core mission. Examples of this can be seen in most businesses and government agencies. The records department (if there is one) is usually aligned several layers down in the organization. Another indicator is the operating budget. Does you company or agency have a records management budget line?  A dichotomy exists between today's aggressive record keeping requirements stemming from Federal Government and Industry Standards and actual participation and understanding from management. You know as the person responsible for your records that somehow you need to work-in the subject of RM in order to gain support from management in order to pursue a worthwhile program. Here are a few tips which may add to your efforts. Approach RM from an economic and legal position. There are many resources available to prove how organization's using effective RM programs save time, money and reduce information risk. ARMA International (Association of Records Managers and Administrator) www.arma.com is the United States largest proponent of RM. Search their web site for a complete reference to the benefits of having and operating a good program. You might also observe how projects get approved in your line of work. Using the same processes of justification to build meaning in support of a good RM system. If headcount sells then calculate headcount savings through good RM. If safety sells, tie RM to safety. If improved legal responsiveness is important, build your sales based on the legal requirements of record keeping. It takes time and analysis to gain support for an RM program. If your plan is carefully executed and demonstrates cost savings and uniformity ,it becomes a popular endeavor to get-behind. Records management can be boring and seemingly not as important as other initiatives however, using the proven techniques of Certified Records Management Practices and Industry Standards to guide you, organizations with good RM are simply better, faster, cheaper and more competitive than those without.

Request it from Archives: Trends and Concerns Surrounding EDM Technology, Part II

Time and again I’ve witnessed imaging solutions get stretched, expanded, customized, added servers, etc. because end users have requested new or differing functionality. A paradox exists in this: an EDM solution was purchased on the basis of operating and fiscal efficiency, but as end users become more skilled and adept at its use, the more "add-ons" they request, slowing the system, and adding new and often complex layers to previously established processes. Often, I’ve seen an EDM solution get customized to support a request from a user group which resulted in tens of thousands of dollars in programming to form a system function that gets used once in a while. The cost of your solution and the economic justification for implementation just left the planet! Another good example of the failure of an EDM solution is the attempted use of EDM as an organization’s archives. How many times have you heard “Let’s just scan everything – go paperless?” Again, a paradox: operating efficiency based on embracing new and emerging technologies, while the retention of paper and electronic records in today’s digital world rests squarely on traditional records management practices and a legally responsive records retention schedule. Today’s most prolific headlines involving business almost always involves records. With the advent of Sarbannes-Oxley and other legislation, dynamic businesses (and their executives) have realized it’s about the specific timing for retention and destruction of records. Imagine the task of managing all of your organizations records (by type and date of each document) and being able to destroy records once they legally qualify. How does business achieve this level of control and accountability using only an EDM solution? Evidenced through hundreds of now defunct EDM programs, this technology is not well suited for becoming a form of archives. Make sure you understand inactive records storage versus archives and again be selective about how you intend to use your EDM solution.

Request it from Archives: the Advantages of Electronic Document Management, Part I

Managing records electronically in the form of images can be a huge time saver. It also has the potential to be a miserable failure as a waste of time and money. Electronic Document Management (EDM) technology should be purchased and installed based on economic business decision-making. All too often EDM solutions are sold as a permanent fix to the troubling trends of managing paper and electronic records. Buying an EDM solution based on the promise of “all my records management problems will be solved” should ring a warning. During the past decade, EDM solutions have greatly contributed to the increased operational efficiencies of many businesses and government entities. Entire cities, hospitals, manufacturing companies and utilities migrated to imaging (electronic images of scanned documents). The real success stories were those who planned, tested, and targeted specific work processes that were traditionally cumbersome, manual, copy intensive and required the simultaneous use of the same records by many workers. These types of business processes proved ideal for the implementation and use of EDM technology. Taking time to explore the specific functionality of any solution will lead to a more refined selection and purchasing process. Similar to buying a car, you can easily overbuy options that lead to significant expenses and contain near useless components. Think streamlined: building on efficiency and simplifying the workflow as a truly efficient practice: a unilateral process where steps are outlined and followed company-wide, in order. EDM technology should be purchased on the basis of marriage of distribution and use. That is, end users have the ability to distribute and use myriad information simultaneously. Be selective about components of the solution you choose and make the vendor work out a return on investment demonstration. Like most business considerations, selecting and purchasing an EDM solution should be based on sound economics and demonstrated, useful, and measureable functionality.

Did you get that forward I sent? Governing email and building bridges in the digital divide

Email is a unique and decisive tool strategic to business operations. It is also a hazard. During its incubation period, email has been embraced as a revolutionary communication tool; unfortunately its governance and regulation have largely been ignored. As a result, many businesses and government agencies maintain copious amounts of information, a demonstration of standard operating and maintenance culture. Accountability for that information has been the foundation of significant litigation throughout the United States, consuming not only operating resources, but backlogging the courts for years to come. While our global vision can no longer reamin intact without the use of electronic communication for discussion, debate, and business, it begs the questions: is email a record, does it have retention value to you and others? While these are the questions that plague business and government organizations, our legal and legislative bodies have also begun to address these very issues. However, due to litigation-driven business environments, organizations are experiencing the high cost and pain of maintaining electronic communications. Here are but a few examples:

● SEC, NYSE, and NASDAQ fine five firms US$8.25 million for failure to preserve email communications

● United States v. Philip Morris: Deleted emails cost US$2.75 million dollars in the ongoing litigation process

● JP Morgan Securities pays US$2.1 million to the SEC, NYSE, NASDAQ, after being charged with negligent destruction of emails

Through the litigious process the revelation is clear that, yes, email is a record, and yes, it has retention value as well as risk. While process and implications are clear, I have never in my three decades experience encountered an automated solution that can selectively retrieve, analyze, and code for retention or destruction. In order to bridge the divide in both business and government, there must be a carefully engineered policy statement, including standards and training, which specifically addresses the unique requirements of electronic communications, including the implementation of a legally responsive records retention schedule. In addition, the system must be audit-worthy, enforceable, and maintain standardized benchmarks. This total systems development, management, and maintenance is attainable only through the marriage of certified records management best practices and the implementation of new technologies.  The fundamental position I take is that if a record exists, it is discoverable before, during, and after realized litigation. Ironically, most often records generated, collected, and/or destroyed via an electronic document management (EDM) solution have been erased only from index locations and in reality still reside elsewhere on the system or network. There are numerous technical considerations that must be understood, measured, and scored in order to build bridges between today’s highly productive and useful technologies, while addressing the traditional needs of the legal requirements of record keeping. 

Picking up the pieces: Economic Re-development post-Katrina, the role of records and information

We’re all too familiar with the scenery; flooded homes, broken storefronts, and a rainbow of faces looking longingly with despair for any semblance of normalcy. Not only did Hurricane Katrina lay waste to the southeast United States, it all but eliminated the knowledge and information capital of the Gulf Coast region. Indeed, Katrina has been the costliest natural disaster in U.S. history- both economically and socially. Beyond the massive scale of Katrina (as well as Wilma and Rita), it becomes incomprehensible to imagine a life without access to information. After all, we are the information society. Families without birth certificates, Social Security cards, banking information, insurance information: in short, a life without that to which we have become accustomed in order to do business. Beyond the fledgling cost of decaying human capital, the information base of business and industry has been yanked from under them. The economic re-development, longevity and sustainability of the region now partially rests on the efforts of industry to effectively manage information. In this position businesses play a key role not only in their responsibility as economic driver, but as pillars of community development through corporate responsibility. In this role businesses not only support the economic livelihood of the region, but also the social and human capital that inhabit it. Records and information are key to this re-development because of their practical necessity in order to achieve anything. Business leaders in the southeast are no longer focused on Sarbanes-Oxley or Gramm-Leach-Bliley compliance. Instead they are intent on rebuilding their lives, homes, and businesses. In an age where corporate responsibility is no longer optional, the foundation of economic re-development is underscored by the need to safeguard industry for the future: from litigation, bankruptcy, and even disaster.