More on the ARMA Survey

A few days ago I mentioned that ARMA had conducted an international survey of it's members. This morning I stumbled across an article more closely assessing the data returned from more than 9,000 different document management vendors. According to the article,

72% felt unprepared for email management

68% were unprepared for eDiscovery

75% did not have an enterprise system to manage content — digital or physical records

62% did not have an email archiving system

66% use the same retention policies for physical and electronic documents, but many were not consistent in their application nor enforcement of these policies

41% manage their email according to their retention policy

To learn more on the findings, you can read the entire article here.

E-Discovery can be Painless

I just stumbled upon an excellent article about the growing importance of e-Discovery, especially at law firms. The piece touches on new legal codes requiring companies to back up digital information, as well as ways to transition into the process seamlessly and painlessly. From the article:

"At first glance, it can look daunting. Electronic data discovery -- requesting documents that may exist only on somebody's hard drive, cell phone or PDA -- has been used for several years but got a big push into mainstream law practice when the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure clarified rights and procedures in 2006, according to John Ferroli, a partner in the Grand Rapids office of the Dykema law firm. Far more data is created electronically than on paper today, so the volume of potentially important e-documents in any given case could be staggering."

GRM Customer Handbook

At GRM we take great pride in ensuring that our customers are always in the know. One of the ways we do that, is by providing an invaluable tool that teaches customers how to get the most out of GRM’s vast array of services. After interviewing both customers and prospects to see what they would like to see in a Customer Handbook, GRM got to work. What was developed is a description of how to use each form and service offered by GRM.

Also included, as suggested by the end user, is a section that can be used to centralize and maintain all contracts, Authorized Personnel forms and other important GRM documentation. Most importantly, managers can now use this handbook, also supplied on CD, to train other employees, saving hours of training, increasing efficiency and ultimately creating standardization. Feel free to take a walk through a sample of GRM’s Customer Handbook.

A Case for Document Management

IStockAnalayst.com ran a story yesterday listing the many benefits of employing an off-site document storage and management program. Within the article, the author points out the financial reasoning behind investing in such a program, as well as the often-stated fact that streamlining your company's document management program is a surefire way to boost productivity and effectiveness.

From the article:

"But for many companies, cost and peace of mind are also major factors. Now more than ever, it is imperative for private sector businesses to head off corporate disasters with effective contingency planning, which includes ensuring the back-up, security and management of vital records . . . Storing large amounts of hard data off-site can be a cheaper and more professionally managed alternative to keeping documents on- site."

ARMA International Survey

A new study conducted by CA, inc. shows that, sadly, the majority of records management professionals are not up to snuff on major services that GRM provides like email management. In our digital age, keeping track of all your companies digital communications is more important than ever before. There's no single better way to protect your information and yourself from legal action. According to the article,

"These findings prove that despite the fact that the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (FRCP) were updated in 2007, organizations are still struggling to gain control of their information," said Reed Irvin, vice president, product management, Information Governance at CA. "In order to take a defensible stance in today's litigious and regulated environment, strategies for enterprise level information governance must be considered."