The Butler Group has released a report on the compliance of document and records management (DRM).
The report, entitled 'Documents and Records Management', explains that companies leave themselves open to risk unless they deal with the various industry-related compliance issues, including the management of unstructured data.
"Despite an increase in the number of regulations and legislation to which organisations must adhere, compliance is still low on the agenda for many and litigation risk continues to be a bigger driver in the UK and Europe", says Sue Clarke, senior research analyst at Butler Group.
"Organisations continue struggling to manage growing volumes of information, having little idea or control over content employees create or retain," she says. "They are exposing themselves to risk, particularly as the fines for non-disclosure grow in size as the courts and regulators become tougher on organisations unable to fulfil disclosure requests. In addition, they typically suffer brand damage. Senior executives must understand their responsibilities for the management of information claiming ignorance of poor practices is no defence."
According to Clarke, the major technology issue for organisations is how DRM can address their particular needs, and which type of solution will provide the closest fit. "One of the more contentious areas of DRM currently is the debate between integrated RM and in-place or federated RM.
While Butler Group regards an integrated approach to be more secure, it recognises that there are circumstances when this is not appropriate and federated RM is the only feasible option. "In these circumstances organisations need to pay particular attention to the security of the records that are maintained in their native repositories," she says.
Furthermore, as organisations look to replace existing DRM systems it is of the utmost importance that they get the implementation right, Clarke says. "The cost of failure can be high with the system not addressing the pain points of the organisation, or take up by employees low because it provides them with few benefits and is cumbersome to use. The way to avoid failure is to plan the implementation in detail with the objectives fully defined and understood, and by following best practices."
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