E-Records management: a sad state of affairs or golden opportunity? Records management professionals have an opportunity--and an obligation--to communicate the importance of including electronic records in their organization's records management program.

• Author: Launchbaugh, Cynthia
• Position: On the edge: the use & misuse of information

Records management is increasingly recognized as an important piece of corporate compliance. In this day of stricter regulations--whether in the form of laws such as the Sarbanes-Oxley Act or international privacy laws--records management may be one of the most powerful tools in the compliance arsenal.

Fortunately, according to a recent survey of 2,200 records and information management (RIM) professionals, 85 percent of organizations today have a formal records management program. Unfortunately, almost half of those organizations, 41 percent, rate that program as being fair or marginal in quality.

Some say this reflects the fact that many records management programs do not encompass electronic records. Indeed, 41 percent of the respondents to the 2003 "Electronic Records Management Survey" conducted by Cohasset Associates, ARMA International, and AIIM International reported that electronic records are not part of their organization's records management program. A similar number, 40 percent, said electronic records are not even addressed in their records management policies and procedures.

This is disconcerting given that experts predict between 80 and 90 percent of all business records created today are in electronic form. Add to this the increasing quantity of records being requested as part of legal discovery and regulatory inquiry, and the importance of a comprehensive records management program becomes that much clearer.

Now more than ever it is critical that organizations at the very least establish--and consistently apply--records retention schedules for all records, including electronic. Yet 47 percent of survey respondents reported they do not have comprehensive records retention schedules that include electronic records. Furthermore, 38 percent of those that do revealed that those schedules are not generally followed.

Risky Business

Failure to include electronic records in records management programs can be risky business. For instance, if records that no longer have operational or legal value are retained unnecessarily, not only are there increased storage costs, but those records are also subject to potential discovery in case of litigation.

The escalating costs associated with electronic discovery are one reason that a discovery response plan is an important element of a successful, comprehensive records management program. A discovery response plan contains policies and procedures for responding to legal discovery requests...