Why is good management of electronic records so important?

A recent survey carried out by AIIM reports that a high percentage of organisations are still not managing their electronic records as efficiently as they should be. The controversial issue here is  that as the records are electronic, it is often seen as a task which should be carried out by the IT department. In reality, however, individuals within every department should be responsible for managing their own records.

The reason why good management of electronic records is important is simple, if critical business documents can not be located for use as evidence in a court case, it can cost a business dearly. Like wise the retention of data for longer than is legally permissible can also lead to prosecution.

The easiest way to manage electronic records is to use an electronic document management system with automated tools which do the job for you. Every record type, whether it be accounts paperwork or personnel records, can be assigned a retention period which has already been pre-defined within the system.  When the date is due, users will be automatically alerted and will be able to review the document and either choose to retain it for a further period of time or approve it for deletion.

EDM systems can also generate reports an audit trails on activity such as who has viewed or printed documents with a date and time. This can also be used in court cases, providing vital information.

For further information on electronic document management systems and electronic records management please click here or call The IPC Group on 08081 45 46 47.