Although most large businesses are increasingly converting systems to work exclusively with electronic records, the reality is that they will still always deal with paper records alongside their electronic counterparts.
Most businesses want to keep all of their paper records. With legislation and a climate of uncertainty, the most common course of action seems to be to keep it all so that there can be no surprises. But that's not the best course of action. It's expensive and inefficient.
Although businesses are urged to keep only the paper that they need, paper documents will always proliferate. In many instances it is simply easier to work with paper. People meet and share information. It is easier to manage paper document versions and not everyone can bring a PDA, laptop or tablet PC to the meeting. Architects will probably always prefer to use large rolls of paper to work off their diagrams and share information with their colleagues, partners and employees. But the paper world still faces the same issues it always did: duplication, additional storage costs and inefficiencies.
The fact remains that people are accustomed to working with paper and it's those people that run businesses. They should first take care of the paper records in their organisations and ensure they are catalogued and indexed, that retention schedules are established and that the proper security practices are wrapped around them; all the tenets of a good records management programme.
Once that is complete, the same process must be applied to the electronic records, which mean no less or more to the business than their paper counterparts. That way all records, paper and electronic, will be labelled, captured, stored, available to users to be retrieved, processed, dispatched, used and returned.
When it all goes wrong
An error that some companies make is to try use a Web content management system, like those used for Web sites, to manage all their electronic records. It's an inappropriate use of technology which amounts to a waste of money.
Although businesses are urged to keep only the paper that they need, paper documents will always proliferate.
Paul Mullon, Metrofile's information governance executive
Even those employed for their intended use see very little of it. Jupiter Research found that of 100 companies that employed Web content management systems, only 27 would continue to use them in the same way as when they were first implemented.
In fact, 60% of companies which deployed Web content management systems later reverted to manual updates. Some of these systems are over-complicated, require too much maintenance and force rigid and simplistic workflow. Critically, some content management systems enforce the divide between paper and electronic records instead of bridging it.
A good records management programme delivers the methodology, process and functionality that businesses need to lift their records from a murky sea of filing cabinets, basements and remote storage facilities. It makes the best use of space. The use of bar codes means that paper records can be quickly found. Bar codes also mean records can be efficiently stored and retrieved. Bar coded paper records can be randomly stored for protection. A records management programme allows filing areas to be flexibly used. The system means less important or less frequently accessed records can be removed to an off-site archive facility, which saves money and improves efficiencies. It ensures documents which are no longer needed are destroyed at the appropriate time after re-checking their importance to the organisation.
In certain instances it will be beneficial to scan records, store them electronically for everyday use and remove the paper, where necessary, to an offsite storage facility. PDF documents are universally usable. Microsoft Office pervades almost every business. And depending on the number of records stored and retrieved, a records management system should be able to scale from a simple PC to a minicomputer.
Flexibility is key. Businesses must be able to deploy the programme by department, division or region. The programme that can universally or separately incorporate HR, finance, sales, call centres, distribution and a plethora more departments across businesses and industries such as health, legal, manufacturing, retail, financial, hospitality and a range of small and medium organisations is the best possible option.
That it unites paper and electronic records is imperative.
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