Original Content: Digital Context

CMS Watch has a fascinating article on their website centering on the complexities of a records management industry in the midst of a transition from traditional hard-copy storage to digital document management. What constitutes an "original" digital copy? With a signed paper contract it's easy to discern which version is the original and which is a copy of that original - but the digital creation and subsequent storage of information has broadened the grey area significantly.

According the the piece in CMS Watch:

Methods and definitions in the world of Records Management (and subsequently ECM) have been long established and remain, in many cases, as valid today as they ever have.
However, most of these methods and definitions were agreed upon when most records were physical hard copies; in most commercial situations this meant paper documents. The introduction and growth of digital documents has been embraced by the RM community, but many of these base definitions remain unchanged, and are unlikely to change in the foreseeable future. One of those is the definition of an "original" document, a particularly crucial definition in these days of e-discovery.

Better Document Storage

Content Management Website CMS Wire has a brief article available on their website providing statistics on why improving your document management program is so vital to your business. Nearing the end of the piece, they also suggest an upcoming AIIM-sponsored (which GRM is affiliated with) free webinar that will help guide your businesses document management programs in an efficient direction.

From the article:

Did you know: Businesses around the world create more than 7.5 billion documents and that 35% of these documents contain legally sensitive information? Thought so. In most work environments and organizations, IS departments try to provide a shared place for users to store and interact with files. In a perfect world, every business critical document or file would be located on a centralized file share in a "safe and sound" environment such as a data center. This is a best practice because this critical (and sometimes sensitive) data is kept on redundant servers and is backed up.

GRM Success Stories

Nothing says more about a company than their rate of success, and GRM takes pride in knowing that virtually all of our clients get more out of their document management programs than they initially anticipated. We've worked with businesses in every corner of the professional world, re-tooling or building document management programs from the ground up for medical facilities, accounting firms, government agencies, law firms and dozens of other professional companies.

In an effort to share with our potential clients what we've already done for our existing ones - the GRM Website hosts a page dedicated to some of our more recent success stories. By visiting the page you can learn about the process we use to determine what services will benefit your business the most, how we implement them and the results you can expect once they've been put into place.

GRM EDM: A Solution for Every Industry

A few weeks ago I mentioned the launch of GRM's new digital division - GRM EDM. The new website is great, the services are impeccable, and I truly believe that we are at the forefront of where the document management industry is headed. That being said, I think it's great that companies from all major business sectors have opened themselves up to that change and moved forward with EDM on implementing new digitally-based management services.

Perhaps the number one reason which companies from every corner of the market are taking interest in GRM EDM is there ability to offer pin-pointed, industry-specific digital document and records management solutions. Their new website has an entire section dedicated to the major industries we serve, including Financial Services, Medical & Health Care Facilities, Insurance Companies/Agencies and the Legal Field.

Sarbanes-Oxley Act

There's a new article on the Sarbanes-Axley Compliance Journal's website this week on the value of records management. The act works as the federal guidelines for all publicly traded companies and ensures that document and records management is handled efficiently and up to government standards. The article is a great crash course on the subject, but will also provide helpful information and benefits of compliance to industry professionals who are well versed on the subject already.

From the SAC Journal:

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX) has been evolving within publicly-traded companies in the U.S. for over half a decade. During this time, the importance of records management and its impact on managing the document lifecycle (document creation through disposal) and compliance has emerged as a critical success factor. Records management is an essential component in controlling business processes, assuring accurate financial reporting, and providing reliable audit findings.