Managing Records and Information in Web Environments: Policies for Multinational Companies.

• Author: STEPHENS, DAVID O.
• Position: Brief Article

During the past five or so years, companies throughout the world have been working feverishly to reinvent their businesses around Internet and World Wide Web technologies. Many aspects of global business have been touched by these revolutionary technologies -- including records and document management.

Corporate intranets are perhaps the major form of Internet technology within companies. Intranets are deployments of standard Internet technologies that are designed to provide common, consistent, and global access to various forms of information, including records and document repositories. In fact, some large multinational companies have declared that, as a matter of policy, their intranet and its Web sites will become the primary method for access to stored electronic information worldwide. This policy has major implications for practitioners of records and information management -- in multinational businesses or indeed in any business that maintains significant information in its Web sites. These professionals must provide sound advice to their companies concerning the management of Web-based information on a global scale.

First and foremost, it is imperative to develop common policies and practices for managing records and information in Web environments on an enterprise-wide, global basis.

Some Definitions

According to the World Wide Web Consortium (www.w3c.org), the World Wide Web is not a physical entity in and of itself; rather, the Consortium defines the Web as a communications protocol that allows multimedia access to the Internet. A Web site is a collection of interlinked Web pages, including a host page, residing at the same network location. A Web page is a document on a Web site that is displayed with a Web browser and related Web technologies. Web documents are formatted in hypertext markup language (HTML), the computer format code in which Web pages are written.

General Policy Matters

Global governance. Many multinational companies have established a formal entity to assume responsibility for global governance of Web development and sites. These groups include Web committees, boards, authorities, and councils. They typically consist of information technology (IT) specialists, legal counsel, and representatives from various business units. The global records manager should serve on this governing body to provide technical advice concerning Web management issues.

Mandatory adherence. The policy should state that all Web development worldwide must adhere to policy provisions and that the Web-governing authority must expressly approve any exceptions.

Computing technologies. To ensure that a company's Web sites are positioned to take advantage of new technology, many policies require the use of specific Internet-related technologies. For example, some policies require that all Web applications must have a Web browser interface. The browser is software that acts as a "client" in the Web computing infrastructure; it allows users to retrieve information from various sources, particularly from Web servers, which are repositories for Web site content that are connected to the Internet. In cases where applications lack such capability, the policy may require that it be retrofitted within a specified period of time.

Responsibilities

All good Web policies clearly enumerate the responsibilities of various parties involved in developing, managing, and using Web resources throughout the enterprise. The responsibilities of the global governing body, information owners, Web site developers, and users are summarized in the following.

Global governing body. This group typically assumes global leadership to promote the Internet and the Web as key components of the company's...