eDiscovery Market Expected to Swell

Despite the fact that the recession has forced many small businesses to cut financial corners, a new article on TechTarget suggests that the need for eDiscovery services is on the rise, and will continue to be through the next year. As we increasingly rely on email communications, many companies feel that an effective program to backlog those communications has become non-negotiable. Additionally, many business owners and records management heads have become aware that digital document management will save them money. There are some interesting statistics available in this article, and I'll provide some of them below. Follow the link for full text.

From TechTarget:

In a Dec. 2008 report, Stamford, Conn.-based Gartner Inc. predicted that spending on e-discovery software technologies and service offerings will grow between 25% and 35% through 2012. A SearchStorage.com survey conducted this year showed that just 14% of the 657 respondents have implemented or will implement e-discovery tools this year. One key change that drew the attention of corporate legal counsel were the 2006 amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (FRCP), which govern civil actions in federal courts. For the first time, the rules spelled out obligations for preserving electronically stored information (ESI).

Savings a Bigger Factor

Continuing on with the theme of my post earlier this week, BCS.org has a follow up article on a recent AIIM study's findings about document management practices. The study, which is conducted every year, found that for the first time ever the primary reason businesses opt to enact an electronic document management program shifted from compliance concerns to more economic reasoning. Essentially, businesses have finally caught wind of the fact that EDM and the over-arching document management field is an immediate investment that will save them money in the long term.

From BCS:

Doug Miles, the managing director of AIIM UK, explained: 'I think any investment in ECM will improve compliance by definition of getting better control over the documents. 'It's just that what will get the pens to write the signatures on the purchase orders at board level in the current climate has become much more about if you can save money on the compliance risked.'

Document Management and EHR

Electronic Health Records are becoming the norm in American medical facilities, but what about digital document management programs? There is an excellent article on AdvanceWeb today discussing why the two should go hand in hand, and assessing if practices are willing to invest in both at once. The author makes a strong case in favor of those that feel the that electronic document management is and should always be an integral part of transitioning to electronic health records.

From AdvanceWeb:

The avalanche of paper documents produced from electronic clinical systems has caught many CIOs off-guard and under prepared. Furthermore, when patient information is entered, viewed and stored in a variety of systems, users cannot review the complete record in a single, central place. CIOs must find a way to bring all the information together, regardless of format or originating department. Electronic document management systems (EDMS) solve these problems. They are a building block for EHR success and an important component to achieving a financial return.

GRM is Eco-Friendly

In mid-2008 GRM took it upon ourselves to evaluate our carbon footprint, assess where we could reduce energy consumption and to take action effecting positive change. As a result, we found that one of the most effective ways to Green our services was through a virtualization of our information management system. If you're not familiar with this concept, the process involves cutting back the amount of physical servers connected to our network.

We achieved this goal by transferring massive amounts of data to a web-based storage system. Traditional server-systems require massive amounts of energy to function, but the new virtualized system requires little to none. If you're interested in learning more about GRM's virtualization process, you can read the full details in the In the Media section of our website.

Doc Manaagement Focus Shifts From Compliance to Efficiency

This morning Tech Central ran an article on their website taking a closer look at an AIIM study I mentioned last week. The study, which was conducted by AIIM in order to assess the state of ECM in 2009, had some interesting conclusions. The major point I focused on in my post last week was that the majority of businesses are overwhelmed and unprepared to handle the growing amount of digital content being created in their offices.

Tech Central mentions a second point I didn't notice in my reading, which is that the driving force between most businesses creating a document management program has shifted recently. The most common reason before last year was that a company was trying to stay in compliance with industry regulations. The most common answer in 2009 was that executives hoped a document management program would improve efficiency and reduce expenses. Interesting.