Johannesburg, 06 Jun 2012
Imagine destroying documents and records that could potentially make or break your business success. Imagine not having a backup system should disaster strike, or not having your ducks in a row should a client question your business' integrity, or worse, take legal steps over an issue you were not even aware of. What would happen if an employee, or employees, in your company left? Would new staff be able to locate and access important information saved on past employees' e-mail systems?
Gone are the days of stowing records and documents away in filing cabinets. The modern method of 'electronic organisation' is far more streamlined, safe and effective. However, this can bite into your profits or worse if valuable information is incorrectly captured, mishandled or stored ineffectively. Carl Wilcocks, EDRMS and ECM (enterprise content management) specialist at Nokusa Engineering Informatics (NokusaEI), a leading international ECM consulting company, suggests electronic e-mail message integration as a reliable method to ensure an efficient and fully functional EDRMS.
E-mail represents one of the largest information and risk management problems facing the modern world, due to the sheer volume of communication that occurs through this medium. For many users, e-mail functions not only as a method of sharing information and documents, but also for document storage, as users re-purpose their mailboxes into electronic filing cabinets. However, storing electronic messages in mailbox folders does not constitute 'capturing' of this information into a corporate record-keeping system.
“Many companies have systems in place that capture documents and records important to their business, but the importance of e-mails is often overlooked,” explains Wilcocks. “Not all companies have e-mail integration, as the tools that provide this integration are sometimes limited to specific providers of EDRMS. E-mails are, however, as important for your business as any other documentation. This is due to the fact that one often makes certain business decisions based on certain e-mails received and sent. E-mail messages and attachments represent business records that must be retained and managed securely to support regulatory compliance, avoid legal fines or litigation costs, and satisfy audit requirements, which is why it is vital to integrate your e-mails into your EDRMS.”
Wilcocks adds that one of the major benefits of e-mail integration is that it ensures that all information relating to your business is accessible at all times, to all relevant and potentially relevant employees.
“When a user receives an e-mail in their inbox, the e-mail is, at that point, only available in that particular user's inbox. The user often then forwards the mail on to other employees. This is not a preferred alternative as it increases storage requirements and results in copies of the same message (and attachments) in multiple inboxes. Massive losses can occur when, for example, an employee or employees leave a company that has not implemented a proper e-mail integration system. Replacement staff may not be able to locate important e-mail information. This can waste time and money as well as having other far-reaching negative effects on your business.”
When businesses allow integration of e-mails into an EDRMS, that e-mail immediately becomes available to everyone in the business. By storing business-relevant messages in a repository, users are able to search for and take advantage of information that would otherwise be inaccessible. Messages are immediately searchable by other users who may benefit from this information and, in such, aid in delivering tangible business value to users and increasing overall user adoption across an organisation. Ensuring e-mails are stored in an EDRMS also protects businesses from liability that could stem from past e-mail correspondences.
“Arguably one of the biggest benefits of e-mail integration is that everyone in the business' team is kept up-to-date and has a better understanding of what is happening within the company. The ability to use e-mail as a collaboration tool is also much stronger when business e-mail messages are stored in the EDRMS and are accessible to more than just the sender and recipient,” states Wilcocks.
Other benefits include decreased litigation expenses in the case of discovery, an increase in business record compliance, improved decision-making power, improved accuracy of information, and secure, tamper-proof copies (including audit trails).
“Depending on your EDRMS and e-mail integration tools, integration requirements can vary. Be sure to take the time to do your research so you have a strong understanding of the capabilities, possibilities and the resources needed for integration,” concludes Wilcocks.
Carl Wilcocks is an electronic document and records management system (EDRMS) and enterprise content management (ECM) specialist at Nokusa Engineering Informatics (NokusaEI), a leading international consulting company specialising in ECM strategies, solutions and implementations. NokusaEI is a South African-based, privately owned BEE company that operations in both South Africa and Australia. For more information, please contact (+27) 11 791 1028 or visit www.nokusaei.com.