Procedures for developing an electronic file plan.

• Author: Scanlan, Kathryn A.

Consistency in folder structures and file naming conventions is fundamental to managing electronic information throughout its lifecycle. This case study will be useful to anyone tasked with developing, revising, or implementing an electronic file structure.

As information management has become increasingly complex, the need for well-designed electronic file plans, as a component of good information governance, has been heightened. As defined in ARMA TR 22-2012, Glossary of Records and Information Management Terms, 4th edition, a file plan is "a classification scheme that defines and identifies all files, including indexing and storage of the files, and referencing the disposition schedule for each file."

The following case study provides an example of how an electronic file structure can be developed and implemented according to the procedures described in Developing Electronic File Structures (ARMA International 23-2013). A hypothetical, industry-neutral work environment is used to illustrate the application of these procedures in a plausible business context.

Background

An organization's recent involvement in litigation brought executive-level attention to the lack of uniform recordkeeping practices across the company. The records and information governance office (RIG) was recruited by the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) to investigate the company's recordkeeping practices and provide recommendations for improvement. RIG conducted an extensive analysis of institutional policies and procedures, the current level of compliance, and external standards and best practices pertaining to the management of records and information.

In the course of its evaluation, RIG identified several recordkeeping problems, including unnecessary duplication of information, inability to quickly locate needed information, inadequate controls over information access, lack of compliance with the organization's records retention schedule, and inappropriate storage of company information in non-approved locations.

RIG reported several direct and indirect costs and risks associated with these problems, including substantial storage and maintenance expenses, unreasonable amounts of staff time devoted to information search and retrieval, increased likelihood of information security breaches, and legal sanctions and reputational damage that could result from negligent recordkeeping practices.

RIG recognized that office directors were concerned that stronger controls on records and information management would overburden employees and decrease productivity. RIG also noticed tensions related to the distribution of authority and budgetary resources. Despite clear gaps in the company's recordkeeping practices, the corporate culture, as a whole, was one of resistance to change.

RIG used ARMA International's Generally Accepted Recordkeeping Principles * as a foundation for its recommendations and was granted authority by the CEO to implement them. The development of a consistent and adaptable electronic file plan structure was identified as a critical piece of RIG's ongoing efforts to correct the organization's recordkeeping problems and to improve its overall information governance. This initiative would focus primarily on unstructured information, i.e., records and non-records, but would operate in conjunction with other information governance systems, such as structured databases.

RIG gathered reliable estimates of costs and return on investment, which helped ease directors' concerns about productivity and efficiency. While requiring substantial staffing resources up front, RIG's cost-benefit analyses rendered the investment worthwhile.

In discussions with end users, it was clear that the organization and retrieval of information could be improved, but that changes from the status quo...