What is Records Management?
Records
Information is one of an organisations most precious assets. With paper documents, emails, microfilm, computer tape and electronic images, any operational information that is created is a record. Time and money are expended in the creation of such records, however, the effective management of these records is often overlooked.
Records Management
Records Management is the process of managing the records. It involves planning, organising and controlling the life cycle of all records, from creation, storage, access, control and ultimately disposition, a well designed records management system will maintain compliance in terms of regulatory bodies and legal requirements, ensure that records are available for the commercial needs of an organisation and of course reduce overall records management costs.
Records Management Solutions
The Sterling Data Group has many years experience in the delivery of secure, cost effective records management solutions. We provide our clients with solutions enabling compliance, chain of custody and full access – whenever and wherever such access is required.
Sterling will assist clients to meet the demanding needs of all business units, assist with the creation and implementation of policy and procedure documents ensuring compliance across the entire organisation.
By tailoring our portfolio of products and services to meet the needs of individual organisations, Sterling can bridge the gap between paper and electronic records. From secure archive storage, hosted electronic document systems, individual image delivery, full reporting/audit services and online ordering, Sterling can put a package together to suit the needs of your organisation.
Record Retention
Records are eligible for destruction when they are no longer required for legal, compliance or commercial reasons. However, some records may have a historical value and will therefore be archived permanently.
Compiling a Retention Schedule pertinent to your business and regulatory needs will enable your staff to recognise the different types of records and to deal with them accordingly. A Retention Schedule should list the different types of records, the length of time they are to be kept and the reasons for keeping such records.
Adhering to a Retention Schedule ensures that records are only kept for as long as required. This saves costs by preventing the storage of redundant information. Timely and regular destruction of records minimises business risk and costly litigation brought about by retaining information beyond the legal requirement or deleting it prior to the retention period.
The Data Protection Act 1998 and the Freedom of Information Act 2000 require good Record Management in order to be able to locate requested information and ensure that information is not kept for longer than necessary.
Benefits of Compliant Records Management
A comprehensive Records Management system ensures that your company will benefit from immediate and long term benefits, such as:
Controlling the volume of information & records to be managed
By implementing a retention and destruction management programme the amount of space occupied by out of date and unnecessary records can be dramatically reduced.
Improved record access
With accurate and complete systems and processes compiled from a combination of best in breed products, access to information will be simplified. This will in turn result in better employee production, improved customer services and the ability as an organisation to make better, more informed decisions.
Reduced the risk of litigation
By implementing a Record Management system and procedures to operate such a system by, your organisation will be able to meet legal and regulatory requirements. Should the worst happen, you will be able to access all necessary information to mount a proper legal defence.
Regulatory Compliance
National, European, International and Industry regulations concerning Records Management will be more easily met. By having a process in place determining which records must be kept and for how long, you will ensure regulatory compliance throughout your organisation.
Improved productivity and efficiency
Searching for ‘missing’ records and information can be a time consuming and costly waste of resources. With proper management of records, less time will be wasted searching for lost information. Business decisions will be aided and reached faster, helping you to stay ahead of the competition.
Protection from Disaster
It is a well known fact that over one third of organisations that suffer a major disaster will fail to recover. By protecting Vital Records and ensuring that copies are kept off-site will ensure your organisation has the ability to recover from a disaster (as part of a comprehensive disaster recovery plan).
History & Heritage
Companies rely on information and records from the past to plan the future. These records are also the history and heritage of a company. Time and expense has been spent creating documents, reports, presentations and the like, ensure that this information is available for the future needs of the organisation.
Further Records Management Resources
The Data Protection Act 1998 – http://www.ico.gov.uk/for_organisations/data_protection_guide.aspx
The Freedom of Information Act 2000 – http://www.ico.gov.uk/for_organisations/freedom_of_information_guide.aspx
The Companies Act 2006 – http://www.companieshouse.gov.uk/companiesAct/companiesAct.shtml
The Financial Services Authority – www.fsa.gov.uk
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