The Ten Biggest Issues in Records Management Today

1
The Ten Biggest Issues in Records Management
Today

• Presented by
• David O. Stephens, CRM, FAI
• To The Western New York Chapter
• ARMA International
• September 22, 2009

2
What are the biggest issues in RM today???

• What issues have the greatest impact on Records
  Management today?
• That is, they are redefining, even
  revolutionizing both the theory and practice of
  records management, and will continue to do so
  for years to come.
• While every such list is inherently arbitrary /
  judgmental, here is mine . . .

3
Well discuss my top ten RM issues . . .

• The growing role of RM as a significant issue in
  organizational management
• RMs role in the transition to the management of
  electronic records in the (nearly) paperless
  office
• RMs role in the new environment for regulatory
  compliance and litigation risk reduction
• RMs role in enhancing enterprise accessibility
  of information content
• The impact of September 11th and RMs role in
  enhancing information protection
• Getting to (nearly) perfect in records retention
• The role of electronic records retention in
  improved data life cycle management
• Bringing records management / retention to the
  desktop, messaging and backup environments
• The significance of the new software solutions
  for electronic records management
• The role of RM in digital preservation

4
Records management Not new, but never more
important!

• Let your Eminence give
• orders throughout each and every province that a
  building be erected in which to store the records
  . . . so that they may remain uncorrupted and may
  be found quickly by those requiring them . . .
• The Emperor Justinian
• Roman Empire, 6th century A.D.

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Issue 1 - The growing role of RM as a significant
issue in organizational management

• With the recent spate of business scandals, now
  for the first time ever records have become
  pivotal in determining the fate of organizations!
  
• In the case of Arthur Andersen LLP vs. the United
  States, for the first time ever, a hitherto great
  corporation was virtually destroyed by acts
  related directly to records disposal, in which
  retention practices were a major issue.

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Electronic records The management challenges are
much greater than for paper!

• Higher strategic value
• Higher customer / client expectations
• Greater technical expertise required
• Much higher rates of growth
• Greater accessibility challenges
• Greater consequences of loss
• Much shorter life expectancy and greater
  preservation challenges
• All of these make RM more important than ever
  before!

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Issue 2 RMs transition to the management of
electronic records in the (nearly) paperless
office

• Many records managers still cling tenaciously
  and irrationally to the notion that paper will
  be with us forever that the long-awaited but
  hitherto unrealized paperless office is and
  will remain a myth.
• I will give you my opinions and invite yours!!!

8
The (nearly) all-digital office Not if but
when!!!

• Just because it hasnt happened during the last
  30 years doesnt mean it wont happen during the
  next 30!
• During the last 30 years, electronic records have
  become much more prevalent and prolific, relative
  to their paper counterparts.
• And their importance has skyrocketed while that
  of paper records has gradually declined.

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But . . . as Bob Dylan said, the times they are a
changin

• The decisive factor in the transition to the
  less-paper office is . . .
• . . . Different behavior patterns on the part of
  the next generation of office workers.
• Our children and grandchildren do not and will
  not use filing cabinets when they take our places
  in the offices of today and tomorrow!!!

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Issue 3 RMs role in corporate governance,
regulatory compliance, and litigation risk
reduction

• Since the passage of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of
  2002 (and the new regulatory and other legal
  initiatives that resulted) regulatory compliance,
  e-discovery and litigation risk reduction have
  been the key drivers for new records management
  initiatives in the U.S.
• SOX changes executive perceptions about records
  management, as nothing had ever done before!

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RMs role in demonstrating compliance

• RMs goal should be to ensure that the
  organizations recordkeeping systems are being
  managed such that the integrity of their
  information content can meet the tests of
  authenticity, integrity and reliability.
• In short full compliance, in letter, spirit and
  good faith!

12
RMs role in mitigating litigation risks

• The presence or absence of records can be either
  favorable or unfavorable . . .
• . . . exculpatory or incriminating.

13
RMs role in mitigating litigation risks

• The best strategy
• Retain only whats needed to operate the company,
  comply with the law, and meet reasonable needs to
  retain history!

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Issue 4 RMs role in enhancing enterprise
accessibility of information content

• Information accessibility Its the foundation
  for world-class records management!
• Wherever records management is practiced at an
  advanced level, the existence and location of all
  information content must be known, and precise
  and timely retrieval must be the rule rather than
  the exception, so that the organizations
  recordkeeping systems effectively support its
  larger business objectives.
• Information accessibility is a strategic business
  issue and needs to be managed as such.

15
The dreams and aspirations of Miss Lemon (shared
by every records manager!)

• Her real passion in life was the perfection of a
  filing system beside which all other filing
  systems should sink into oblivion. She dreamed
  of such a system at night.
• Source Agatha Christie, How Does Your Garden
  Grow, 1931.

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The value of information is directly
proportionate to its accessibility

• An organization may possess a single kernel of
  information upon which its entire future rests,
  but if those who seek it cannot find it, the
  golden nugget is worthless.

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In response to any (properly formulated) search
query, one of five things can happen

• The system delivers all the documents /
  information requested and no others.
• The system delivers all the documents desired, as
  well as others deemed not relevant.
• The system delivers some of the requested
  documents, but not all.
• The system delivers some documents, none,
  however, are deemed relevant.
• The system delivers no documents at all and some
  are known to exist that are relevant to the
  query.
• It is the task of RM to ensure that No. 1 occurs
  consistently across the enterprise!

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Issue 5 The impact of Sept. 11th and RMs role
in information protection

• There is a persuasive, even compelling, argument
  that protecting organizational information from
  loss due to disaster whether due to natural,
  technical or human causes is the most important
  aspect of records management.

19
Greater risks / consequences of loss

• Most organizations could lose all their paper
  records and survive.
• No so for computer records!
• A large-scale data loss would likely be
  cataclysmic and irrecoverable!

20
For all vital, mission-critical records, off-site
back is the way to go!

• Organizations should adopt the long-term goal of
  converting to digital format every paper-based
  recordkeeping system of mission-critical
  importance as soon as resources and priorities
  allow.
• Records managers should survey all such
  applications, and develop a plan for conversion
  from paper to digital format that can be
  implemented over a period of several years.
• This will permit the records to be backed up
  off-site.
• For all mission-critical recordkeeping systems,
  we recommend that organizations give themselves 5
  years to get out of paper.

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Issue 6 Getting to (nearly) perfect in records
retention

• Sadly, most records retention programs are not
  organized around success.
• Most have no long-term management plan or
  strategy for achieving success.
• So, just like every self-fulfilling prophesy,
  success in retention remains elusive!

22
Best practice in enterprise RM requires the
systematic application of rules, tools and
implementation strategies in five recordkeeping
environments

• 1. Active paper records at departmental
  workstations
• 2. Inactive paper records in storage facilities
• 3. Personal working papers kept in desks,
  credenzas and bookcases
• 4. Data in computer applications managed by IT
• 5. Electronic records in desktops, controlled by
  their creators

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Getting to perfect in retention

• Organizations should establish a 5-year goal of
  applying retention rules in all 5 recordkeeping
  environments.
• Poorly managed warehouse storage and IT-managed
  system applications will require at least 3
  years.

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A top RM goal No more unmanaged / under-managed
storage repositories!

• Regardless of whether they used for the storage
  of paper or electronic records, every storage
  repository must be managed such that the content
  is fully accessible, readily retrievable, and
  safe and secure.
• Moreover, the life cycle of the content in all
  repositories must be properly managed under
  approved retention rules and policies.

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Issue 7 The role of electronic records
retention in improved data life cycle management

• What happens to computer data as it ages?
• Does the value of data increase or decrease as
  time passes?
• Do storage management requirements change as data
  ages through its life cycle?
• In the world of paper, these are questions that
  records managers have addressed for decades!
• But not in the world of IT, where retention has
  not been widely practiced.

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If getting rid of dead data is such a good idea,
why hasnt it been widely practiced???

• A largely invisible problem no physical /
  visible manifestations.
• In some situations, its cheaper to retain than
  purge.
• For decades, IT had carte blanche to buy all
  the storage they wanted no questions asked!
• No strong advocate among key stakeholder groups.

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None of the key stakeholders in business
computing strongly advocated ERR, so it didnt
happen!

• IT departments Data retention not a priority
  no methodology or expertise.
• Vendors Driven by customer priorities. Data
  retention not historically an issue. But this is
  changing!
• Data owners Usually content to take whatever
  data they can get.

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The explosive and unprecedented growth in
data storage

• The total cost of managed storage now rivals or
  exceeds the investment in systems and servers,
  and often accounts for 50 or more of total IT
  spending.
• Data storage costs will rise to three-quarters of
  all IT spending over the next few years.
• Source Storage Inc.

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Issue 8 Bringing RM / retention to the
messaging environment

• In most organizations, the desktop is an records
  management basket case generally
  under-managed or mismanaged.
• But this is where most of the work of
  organizations is done!
• Approx. 56 of all digital content resides here.
• To bring better records management to the desktop
  is one of the biggest records management
  challenges today.

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The messaging environment should be restricted to
current communications only!

• Many e-mail users retain hundreds, even
  thousands, of e-mails, in their messaging
  environment. This is not best but worst
  practice!
• A top records management priority is to ensure
  that the messaging system is not morphed from an
  e-post office into an unmanaged archive!

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Consider the analogy of the postal mail you
receive at home . . .

• When you go home tonight, youll get your mail
  out of your mailbox.
• There will be bills, magazines, and junk mail.
• Youll discard the junk mail, put the magazines
  on the coffee table or night stand, and put the
  bills in the pending file for payment.
• But you wont put any mail back in the mailbox!
• Well, thats exactly whats happening in the
  digital environment!!!

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The only practical retention methodology for
e-mail . . .

• Asking users to classify 30 to 60 or more e-mails
  per day in accordance with a taxonomy and save
  them to an ERMS or ECM solution is not practical
  aint gonna happen!!!
• Therefore, a simpler strategy, one which
  minimizes user involvement and decision-making,
  is required.
• The only practical, realistic solution
• A uniform maximum retention period, accompanied
  by aggressive daily management by users!

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The uniform maximum retention strategy Heres
how it works . . .

• . . . A uniform maximum retention period, of
  pre-determined length, is established by policy.
• It is effectuated by automatically transferring,
  without user involvement or decision-making, all
  e-mail remaining in employees mailboxes when the
  messages have aged 90 days to a dedicated e-mail
  archival repository, where they will remain for
  the duration of the approved uniform maximum
  retention period.
• When the messages have aged to the duration of
  the uniform maximum retention period, they will
  be purged, again without user intervention or
  decision-making.
• To operationalize this strategy, youll need an
  e-mail archiving tool (software solution).

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The uniform maximum retention period Options for
its duration

• Not less than 3 years, nor longer than 7 years!
• The average retention of all records kept by
  American business falls within this range!
• Because of system obsolescence, 10 years is the
  longest practical retention period, but its
  usually much longer than needed.
• Three years should be sufficient to meet the test
  of reasonableness and good faith.
• If you want to be more conservative, go to 5, 6
  or 7 years.

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The uniform maximum retention period must be
accompanied by two major caveats

• (1) E-mail of transitory value must be deleted on
  a daily basis.
• This requires 10 to 15 minutes per day.
• (2) E-mail of long-term value (for which the
  retention exceeds the uniform maximum period)
  must be saved in a separate repository that can
  satisfy its retention period
• Printed and filed in paper format.
• Saved to another software application (ERMS, ECM,
  or other solution).
• Do these things, and your e-mail retention
  problems will be over!

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Issue 9 The significance of the new software
solutions for ERM

• Today, for the first time ever, the goal of total
  life cycle management, through a retention
  methodology supported by computer software, is
  within reach!
• This is the holy grail of RM!
• At present, a total of 52 software solutions have
  been certified under DoD 5015.2!
• More good news Retention functionality is
  increasingly being built into native software
  applications!

37
For the first time, large computer companies get
into the RM business

• For decades, records management was perceived as
  tangential to the larger enterprise information
  management agenda because large computer
  companies werent in the records management
  business.
• But, in the last five years, things have changed
  
• In 2002 IBM acquired Tarian Software and
  announced plans to integrate records management
  capabilities across its entire software
  portfolio.
• In 2006, IBM enhanced its position in the market
  by its acquisition of FileNet.
• In 2003 EMC acquired Documentum and launched an
  Information Lifecycle Management business.
• In 2006, Oracle acquired Stellent.
• These and other developments have the potential
  to elevate records management to another level of
  legitimacy as an information management
  initiative of enterprise strategic significance.

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Software solutions for content retention

• Retention functionality in native applications
• ERMS software
• Integrated EDMS / ERMS software
• Fixed-content archiving solutions
• Database archiving solutions
• E-mail archiving solutions

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Issue 10 The role of RM in digital preservation

• Our IT department tells me they can support data
  retention requirements up to 5 years with
  certainty. From 5 to 10 years, with a little bit
  of luck. After 10 years, there are no
  guarantees!
• Source Edie Allen, Records Manager (retired)
  Battelle Memorial Labs

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Why digital preservation?

• If an organization creates a record in electronic
  format in, say, the year 2006, and this record
  will need to be digitally processed and read many
  years later, how, exactly, can this requirement
  be supported in a technology environment in which
  the only constant is rapid change?

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Digital preservation Eight best / recommended
practices

• 1. Records selection
• 2. Storage media selection
• 3. Data migration
• 4. Standardize file formats
• 5. Media recopying
• 6. Metadata management
• 7. Systems documentation
• 8. Media storage and maintenance