Archiving is Just the First Step

Getting a document into a repository is really just the beginning of that document’s lifecycle. The document was created, scanned into the system, and archived – but now what?

The archiving of a document is the start of its lifecycle. The document has been put into the system, and now needs to be managed in order to be in compliance with the many critical regulatory issues that exist pertaining to document retention. Once a document is archived is when most legal issues come into play. To date, there are over 8,500 state and federal regulations affecting records management, and it’s vital for businesses and organizations to be in compliance.

The lifecycle of a document goes much further than scanning and retrieving. A document moves through its lifecycle starting with its creation, moving to its storage and retrieval, its retention, and finally going into its preservation in an archive or its destruction. A document is created, such as a paper application for employment being submitted to the human resources department of an organization. That paper application is scanned into an imaging system, indexed and archived. Now human resources and other departments can retrieve that document as needed. But once created, that document itself can have many requirements. For that organization, it could be required that human resources keep applications on individuals not hired for two years. If that person re-applies, it could be required that their application be kept for an additional two years. If that person is then hired, the application must be kept for the duration of their employment, and then moved to offsite storage after employment. So, if an employee is hired, employed for five years, and then resigns, that paper application has a very important trail to follow, after the archiving.

The need for storage management

The lifecycle of a document can present serious problems if a retention schedule is not set and managed. If a document is kept too long, it can become a liability to an organization. Sensitive information needs to be protected from unauthorized access and disposed of properly. In June of this year, the Disposal Rule became effective as part of the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003. The Disposal Rule requires sensitive information, such as information relating to employee backgrounds, be properly destroyed, in order to prevent unauthorized access. Regulations such as these demand a very specific retention and purging schedule for organizations.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, if a document isn’t kept long enough, legal consequences can be as severe as jail time. Certain records and documents are required by law to be kept for a minimum amount of time, and organizations are held accountable for retaining those records. Relying upon employees to maintain documents leaves room for error. Why put such responsibilities on employees when a system can automatically manage files exactly as your organization specifies?

Files not only need to be archived and retained according to schedules, but to truly manage electronic assets, an organization needs to have proper disaster recovery plans in place. It’s necessary for organizations to have their critical information backed up on a regular basis to ensure that business processes can continue in the event of a disaster. Many organizations don’t give a lot of thought to disaster recovery until they have a major crisis. There’s no point in waiting for a costly emergency when a storage management system can easily automate backing up files according to a disaster recovery plan.

Features a storage management system should offer

Using a storage management system makes it possible to set and abide by retention schedules automatically. Setting up a retention schedule that relies on employees to purge and store documents accordingly is leaving those regulated tasks open to human error. However, choosing to implement a storage management system that automatically manages files and records ensures that those sensitive and crucial files are handled in the exact way that was intended.

A good storage management system needs to be flexible. Laws and regulations are changing constantly, and retention schedules need to be able to change with the regulations. Administrators should be able to easily and quickly update the criteria for schedules such as purging, to comply with new regulations.

Retention and backup schedules should be based on your organization’s specific business rules, dependent upon your branch offices, offsite storage, document regulations specific to your industry, etc. A good storage management system should be configurable to your organization and its business rules. The system should be as simple or complex as your organization needs it to be.

Administrators should be able to configure the software to assess files based on their index values and the metadata contained within them. For example, if an insurance company keeps inactive claims for seven years before purging them, and if that claim becomes active on the last day before purging, the content updated in that claim keeps it from being purged, as set up by the administrator. The software should be flexible enough to allow for exceptions and unusual circumstances within files.

Also, a complete and comprehensive system not only manages the files in your content management system - it should be able to pull data from other software systems and include those in retention schedules as well. Once an administrator sets up retention schedules for all of your organization’s data, outdated and unused records and files can be moved to slower storage media that is less expensive. Also, administrators should be able to set up the system to back itself up as your organization prefers. The system should automatically back up to offsite storage, main offices, etc., all the information you’ve chosen. Having a system automatically back up records and files according to a set schedule takes all human error out of the process; there is no chance someone will forget, be on vacation, or make an error.

Storage management systems can guide your archived documents through the rest of their lifecycle automatically. A solid storage management system can handle retention schedules, backing up files for disaster recovery, and can aid in regulatory compliance. To make the most of your content management, implement a storage management system to complete the lifecycle of your files.

For more information or to schedule a demonstration, please Contact DocFinity now.