Have you ever found yourself playing a game of Marco Polo with your records? Sure, it was fun when you were a kid, but now it can become a game of frustration as you’re searching unsuccessfully for the record you need. Spending unnecessary time searching through file cabinet after file cabinet can make “Polooo” almost impossible to hear (or just plain impossible, because records don’t talk).
Every records department, no matter in what industry, has compliance requirements. Good records management allows you to meet legal retention requirements, helping you avoid countless problems such as difficult audits or even fines. The easiest way to handle your records is to stray away from paper and use a robust digital system, such as enterprise content management (ECM). Using this method ensures that you can securely control your records from creation to destruction in one central place.
Enterprise Content Management
As your business grows, so does your informational assets. Organizing these expanding assets and being compliant with industry and government standards can become difficult over time. According to the Association for Information and Image Management (AIIM), the top drivers for getting an ECM system is lowering costs and improving efficiency. AIIM also found that more than half (52 percent) of their respondents work at organizations that are working towards a company-wide ECM capability.
With ECM, the appropriate files will become records as soon as they’re captured into your system. From there, records can be moved into folders and given corresponding rules. Within the folders, the records go through their proper workflows. The records instantly become accessible to anyone who needs them, no matter where they are or what device they’re using.
Records Retention
Using records retention within ECM systems allows you to control the destruction of your data. You pick the specific time the record will be destroyed and/or removed from your system. Properly destroying your data in this way can minimize legal risks so that you can avoid fines related to expired content.
With automated records retention, you don’t have to waste time worrying about manually deleting your records. This instead allows you to focus on higher-value initiatives while still maintaining thorough control over organized, easier-to-manage data.
It’s time to leave the game of Marco Polo in the pool and take control of your records management with a proper ECM solution. For more information on how you can add ECM to your business, contact one of our business process experts! To find out how we’ve helped other organizations in the past get a good handle on records management, check out the Broward Sheriff’s Office case study below.
