Dr. Peter Toebak, 17. October 2003, 08. February 2004, 28. April 2004
http://www.toebak.ch
A records management program is not an easy job. It requests a holistic approach. Organizational, logical and technological aspects have all to be dealt with. Each employee of a company, administration or non-profit organization is involved. New business models, such as extended enterprises and administrations, need records management to be effective and efficient in a networked environment. The records management program can be deployed in a step-by-step process. Some steps may follow in a less chronological order. The most important thing is that the goals and means of the overall records management program are clear from the outset.
In this respect the elaboration and acceptance of a corporate strategy or policy is essential. In this document the terms "strategy" and "policy" are used as synonyms. Targets must be defined, ressources calculated, compliance and performance measured. Records management exists in one way or an other, since data records and documentary records are produced and used in every working or decision process of a company, administration or non-profit organization. Bad records management leads inevitably to losses, quality records management undoubtedly to gains. Investments are to be protected by quality records management. Backing on highest decision level within the company, administration or non-profit organization must be assured, before the overall records management program can be successful. Discussions have to take place before implementation, not afterwards.
A corporate strategy or policy for records management is an important reference document for an organization. It outlines the basic aspects of a “corporate-wide, life-cycle based” management of all data and documents of business relevance and has a dynamic character, in accordance with new developments in organization and society.
The corporate strategy / policy document should not be too long. Details must be described in annexes to indicate background and give reference and regulation for day-to-day business. Logical-organizational regulations and instruments have to come on top of the corporate strategy / policy document.
This model-checklist is of use for any type of organization, i.e. a public administration, a private company or a non-profit institution of any size and activity in every domain.
Records consist of all relevant data and documents received and created while doing business (data records and documentary records). They are process-bound and one of the most valuable resources (assets) of the organization. Records have a contentional aspect and must be interpreted in their business, narrative and chronological context as well.
A records management system, i.e. databases of business relevance, specific applications such as ERP, CRM, WCM, applications of a more generic kind (RMS) and systems on paper or hybrid basis, is vital to support business processes, activities and decisions, as well as ensuring accountability to present and future stakeholders.
|
Nr. |
Structure of a corporate strategy / policy |
Target group |
| 1. | Management summary | Top, senior and middle managements |
| 2. | Introduction | Organization specialists, case workers, records managers, archivists |
| 3. | Records management instead of document management | Middle management, case workers, information managers |
| 4. | Scope of a corporate strategy / policy on records management | Organization specialists, computer specialists, records managers, archivists |
| 5. | Value of records and records management for the administration, company or non-profit organization | Middle management, organization specialists, jurists, records managers |
| 6. | Current situation at the administration, company or non-profit organization | Case workers, jurists, computer specialists, information managers, records managers |
| 7. | Vision for the near and medium future | Case workers, jurists, computer specialists, information managers, records managers |
| 8. | Prospects, challenges and methods of records management | Organization specialists, computer specialists, records managers, archivists |
| 9. | Stakeholders, roles and responsibilities | Middle management, case workers, organization specialists, computer specialists, records managers, archivists |
| 10. | Process organization and implementation | Organization specialists, computer specialists, records managers, archivists |
| 11. | Reference framework | Organization specialists, jurists, computer specialists, records managers, archivists |
| 12. | Financial benefits of the program | Top, senior and middle managements, organizational specialists, records managers |
| 13. | Annexes | Organization specialists, computer specialists, records managers, archivists |
The summary expresses the clear intention and strong support of top, senior and middle managements concerning the records management program within the organization. Efficiency, knowledge, memory, transparency and continuity of the organization are at stake. Top, senior and middle managements demonstrate their committment that professionalism in this field is needed. In this respect community expectations will further grow in e-society.
This part must evoke the curiosity of the reader and prepare him or her for the acceptance of new views and necessary changes. It explains the structure of the strategy / policy document. Why is records management in all its features a “hot item” for the organization? What are the basic aspects and thoughts? Why and how have these aspects to fit together?
This part is only necessary where differences and similarities between records management and document management are not yet fully understood or culturally anchored in the organization. Lacking clearness in this matter leads to a major drawback in the further process of documentary records management. It can disturb the necessary new “mindset”.
The scope must define the goals of the corporate strategy / policy on records management. A mission and/or mandate statement about the purposes of records management in relation to the overall goals of the organization will be of relevance.
It must be clear, that all records management systems, i.e. databases of business relevance, specific applications such as ERP, CRM, WCM, applications of a more generic kind (RMS) and systems on paper or hybrid basis, have to fit in the overall records management system and program of the organization. Data records and documentary records are all to be dealt with.
Quality records management brings short term, middle term and long term requirements into accordance. Life-cycle management of the records is of immense importance to develop a controlled, structured, secure and persistent records management environment.
Security policy, access policy, knowledge management, e-government, e-business, risk management and business processing do all have their practical and informational basis in a well-established records management system.
There are many good reasons for an administration, a company or non-profit organization to organize its data and documentary records well. Some of the arguments are efficiency, avoidance of (legal) risks and compliance, others deal with innovation, effectiveness, coordination and cooperation in the business processes (see also Financial benefits of the program).
The current situation must be analyzed to evaluate its strengths and weaknesses and to put forward new strategies, policies and programs on a sound basis in a transparent and useful way. A lot of systems as well as computer hard drives contain information and records. Typically, these systems do not communicate with each other, creating “silos of information". Each repository often has its own rules, policies, guidelines. Some systems remain largely on a paper or hybrid basis.
Flexibility, authenticity, reliability, manageability, (re)usability and integrity are to be guaranteed in a controlled, structured, secure and persistent records management environment. In accordance with specialized systems (see Scope of a corporate strategy / policy on records management), the RMS must handle and manage all documentary records as quality records. Exceptions must be made explicit, e.g. in the case of well-described routine business activities.
By checking-out to and (re)checking-in from dynamic document processing systems, such as workgrouping, workflow and desktop software, documents can be processed until they are finished and frozen as documentary records.
Implementing or changing a documentary records management system is highly complex, the technical side of the matter is only one of the important elements. The logical, organizational and human aspects normally need much more time, effort and care. Implementing or changing a data records management system (database, specific application) is easier to do. On the other hand it will leave out approximately 40-70% of all records within the organization, i.e. a public administration, a private company or a non-profit institution, in the best case.
As a mainstream system the RMS or the archival system should canalize all documents with records status from all systems in the organization. Relations with other systems (see Scope of a corporate strategy / policy on records management) and organizational goals (see Value of records and records management for the company or administration) are to be defined explicitly.
Logical-organizational methods, concepts and instruments, such as business classification schemes, retention schedules, master dossiers, metadata schemas, access rules, criteria of business relevance, vital and archival records status, must be developed while having the highest priority. Technical and functional requirements must be defined, such as media/format choice, refreshing, conversion and migration programs, systems backups, recovery, storage and compression means.
Almost all (non-productional) business processes are data or document oriented. Every employee is more or less involved in records management and is responsible in his or her field of action to ensure that evidence of business activity is created and retained. This circumstance has implications for every job description and qualification. Records are not a personal asset, they are the (proprietary) asset of the whole organization in the past, the present and the future.
The role of the documentary records manager will change; coaching, monitoring and controlling will be more important than execution. He or she must have a clear mandate to be able to save the advantages and to canalize the disadvantages of disintermediation on desktop level of every employee of the organization.
The role of the computer specialists is important to administer the rights and constraints of the user groups and to facilitate the hardware and software infrastructure.
Projects dealing with specific records management systems, i.e. databases of business relevance, applications such as ERP, CRM, WCM, must not remain on a too isolated basis. Relations exist between the overall records management and archival program of the organization.
In case of documentary records management each project stage will be a step in a well-defined process to reach full and reliable (electronic) documentary records management within an appropriate and realistic time frame. An overall rollout, a pilot implementation or a modular rollout concentrating on one business function at the time is possible. A training, change management, monitoring and auditing program is necessary to ensure that changes to accustomed work practices are accepted and improved.
Project management skills, conceptual and analytical skills as well as practical, operational and technical skills are of interest. A "project sponsor" must assume overall responsibility on behalf of top and senior management. The documentary records management process aims at a continuous improvement of all records practices within the organization, also by making possible quantitative and qualitative benchmarking internally and externally.
Legislation and regulation are becoming more strict and precise in regard to records management and financial records management. Compliance and matching on a national and even international scale will get further importance and eventually will decide over success and survival of the organization.
ISO 9000 family of standards for quality management emphasizes that documentation of the business processes is a requirement for certification. ISO-Standard 15 489 for (documentary) records management must be adopted as overall guide to best practice during implementation, while MoReq specification of EC and DoD 5015.2-STD can be taken as comprehensive benchmarks for the definition of the functional and technical requirements.
These publications are written for both private and public sector organizations, for large and small organizations. They have a multi-disciplinary background, are not prescriptive in every detail and must be tailored before application.
The added value of documentary records management for the administration, company or non-profit organization as a whole is obvious, although the return-on-investment of a RMS cannot be hardened easily. Nevertheless, a cost-benefit analysis is possible, including qualitative as well as quantitative assumptions, calculations and facts. This “balance of arguments” should be compared with a "do-nothing" scenario, exploring the costs and benefits of maintaining a present situation or leaving a “laissez-faire” constellation. It must incorporate short, middle and long term expectations and deal with one-off and ongoing costs and benefits.
Important and more detailed aspects can be put forward in annex documents. These documents define the criteria of business relevance for data and documents, including a list of document types, express the weight of records management in a more specific way, including return-of-investment calculations, sum up important project stages and milestones to implement, including the first on-going projects (road map). Other instruments have been mentioned in this document (see Prospects, challenges and methods of records management).