The building blocks of a global records management program: What does it take to build a global, enterprisewide RM program? it starts with equal parts planning, management support, and foresight.

• Author: Vednere, Ganesh
• Position: Record management

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Implementing records management (RM) in just one division of an organization is no easy task. Now multiply that across countries, jurisdictions, business practices, cultures, and languages and organizations have the making of an epic task. Increasingly, however, they are looking to implement such a program. In addition, organizations are facing intensifying legal, regulatory, and business pressures to ensure that records across the entire organization are secured, authentic, reliable, and usable.

Almost every major organization does business internationally and, by definition, must generate several types of records that need to be managed across multiple jurisdictions. In the event of litigation, courts are not going to give leeway and lower the threshold just because certain records were produced in a different country and were not managed properly. Therefore, organizations must establish relevant policies, controls, and guidelines to manage and retain all records, regardless of where they were created or reside.

The nature and scope of a global program necessitates a great deal of thought and planning. It may not be out of place to suggest that implementing a global RM program may be one of the most challenging compliance initiatives an organization can undertake. Not only does it have to contend with established and, therefore, hard-to-change local business practices, but it must also deal with organizational and individual resistance. Further compounding the problem are conflicting interpretations of local laws, disparate IT systems, varying levels of management support, and a general lack of appreciation for good RM practices.

A few years ago, the words "global" and "records management" were usually not mentioned in the same sentence. But in today's changing Web x.0-enabled world, information and records cross local, national, and continental boundaries. Organizations are forced to quickly adopt and adapt. While some organizations have taken admirable steps in establishing controls and processes, others are still struggling.

The unique thing about a global program is simply the immensity of the problem at hand. A typical mid-size global organization will have offices in at least 30 to 60 countries, thousands of employees, hundreds of dissimilar business and IT systems, and conflicting legal and regulatory requirements. RM has really picked up steam the past few years as organizations have begun to realize the serious risk posed to their financial well-being, business, and reputation if records are not being managed properly. In addition, obtaining access to relevant records in a timely and efficient manner has become critical to the operational effectiveness of all organizations.

Global RM is not for the fainthearted; it requires solid determination and courage to see the program through. There are many challenges, which require patience and fortitude, on the road to implementing a global RM program.

Program Governance

A strong governance structure is critical for a successful global RM program. The first step in establishing such a governance structure is to solicit and obtain buy-in from the corporate (headquarters) leadership and then from each of the organization's key regional leaders. But this is easier said than done, as some senior-level managers may not want to spend additional monies or even attempt to understand the full benefits of the program. It may require the RM team to get a chief-level executive officer or the board committee to further the interests of the program. Once executive support is established, the RM team...