Lava Systems Africa, an affinity partner of Canadian-based Open Text and one of the companies within the Enterprise Content & Wireless (ECW) Group, today unveiled Best Practices for Effective Records Management.
Companies are increasingly turning to records management software to manage compliance with laws and regulations, but common mistakes can undermine software deployments from the start and increase compliance risks. Open Text, a leading provider of enterprise content management (ECM) software, including records management, recommends 11 best practices that can help companies improve their records management planning from the start and set them on a course for successful enterprise-wide compliance.
"Records management underpins compliance but even with its high-priority status, records management initiatives can get entangled in conflicting corporate agendas," commented Bill Forquer, executive VP, Compliance Solutions Business at Open Text. "Through our many years of experience working with large corporate and government customers, we`ve found some key steps organisations should follow to build a records management programme that can support a comprehensive enterprise compliance strategy."
A solid plan for records management has helped Open Text customers, such as Translink, the regional transportation network for the Greater Vancouver area, successfully deploy records management for compliance. "Because we provide public services, we are subject to the rules and regulations governing this sector," added Noella Bordian, Corporate Records Manager for TransLink. "We now have a standard and enforceable process by which the entire organisation can maintain all communications and work files. We`re working efficiently together, reducing business risks and protecting our intellectual capital." TransLink`s system manages records across half a dozen subsidiaries in multiple locations, encompassing more than 4 000 employees.
According to Forquer, the top records management best practices companies should follow are:
* Focus on business processes: Recognise that records management is a business process issue, not a technology issue. Understand how compliance can become a part of the way people work, not another job on top of it. Work closely with your IT department, but be sure the business owners define the project charter and funding formula, and sponsor the initiative.
* Present the bigger ROI picture: When looking for buy-in, define the benefits of the system not just in terms of cost savings, but also in terms of broader corporate compliance.
* Consider a full assessment: Depending on the size of your records management challenge, consider bringing in help to get a full assessment of your records management requirements, business risks and benefits.
* Use what`s already created to get a head start: Take advantage of existing records management work and expand it into the broader compliance landscape. A publicly traded company has already mapped out control points and standard operating procedures around internal controls and Sarbanes Oxley compliance. In doing so, the company has more than likely mapped out records management processes on some level-these offer a good starting point.
* Align records management with your corporate ECM strategy: Consider your records management plan within your broader ECM strategy. How can records management rules be applied across e-mail, images, Web content, physical records, and more. This helps identify which problems can be solved in the short, medium, and long term, and what budget allocation is required. It`s also the key to moving toward an enterprise-wide approach to compliance.
* Tap existing IT systems: Your existing ERP, CRM and other systems contain all the data needed to describe corporate records. Leverage your existing investment in these applications and capture records metadata such as authors, contract numbers, employee IDs, customer numbers, case numbers and more.
* Plan for growth: Electronic information can grow at an astounding rate. Don`t design a records management system based on today`s volumes, of information, develop a system that assumes significant growth over time.
* Create a communication plan: Records management often spans many groups within an organisation. Develop a communication plan that carefully outlines not just the appropriate level of awareness for each group, but also rolls out the appropriate level of technology change at various stages.
* Demonstrate benefits to users: Be sure to show users the benefits of a records management system, such as better access to information and smoother business processes. If the system is seen as "more work" because of compliance burdens, user adoption will be slow.
* Build in measures for success: How do you know that policies are being enforced? What will you do if they are not? And how do you plan to attest to the effectiveness of your system? Addressing these variables during the planning phase is critical to long-term, measurable success with records management.
* Share best practices: Bring compliance, records and other managers together to share best practices and concerns to ensure a dynamic records management program that does its job today and tomorrow.
Open Text offers more information on the "ABCs" of records management as well as a full white paper and information on its solutions on its Web site.
For further information, please contact Ray Dalgarno, Lava Systems Africa: tel 011 675-7193, fax 011 675-4075, e-mail rayd@lavasystems.co.za
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ECW is the merged entity of Lava Systems Africa, Lava Systems Mobile (LSM) and KeyTools.
The Lava Systems Africa (LSA) team originated in the late 1990s with the objective of becoming a premier supplier of enterprise systems based around knowledge management, document management, records management, image management, collaboration and workflow solutions. The emerging demands that were identified included government process re-engineering, supply chain co-ordination, customer relationship management, e-government and B2B processing. In support of these business aims the technology platforms chosen had to enjoy a proven global track record and adhere to open Internet architecture standards and developments. LSA is a South African-based company dedicated to the sales, marketing, support and consultancy founded upon the Livelink product suite from Open Text, a product that the staff have been involved with since 1998. LSA user base embraces customers from both the private and public sector and includes organisations such as Bateman Projects Limited, Alexander Forbes, the Gauteng Provincial Government and the National Social Security Fund of Uganda.
KeyTools is that company which concentrates on the marketing, sales and support of the mobile software systems and business solutions and that also offers the capability of `hosting` such a business solution.
Lava Systems Mobile (LSM) is a company focusing on the development of mobile applications and tools; and was originally created in 2005. Later that year, it was absorbed with KeyTools, a well established mobile applications software developer with international links.
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