In today’s business world, there’s a growing need to protect information. Implementing cybersecurity is one step toward achieving that goal, but it shouldn’t be the only one. Flawed document management can put your information at risk, which is why it’s important to have effective record keeping. A record management system can improve the way you handle your files.
What Is a Record Management System?
A records management system can directly impact the effectiveness of an organization’s day-to-day operations. It can also help you avoid rising operational costs and minimize your risks. Employees can quickly retrieve data, process information, identify owners of records, and eliminate redundant data. But what is a record management system exactly?
This solution refers to the management of a record throughout its life cycle. This involves the systematic and efficient control of creation, maintenance, and destruction of records and the business transactions associated with them. A record management system is not only a key component to organizational efficiency, but it’s also necessary to meet certain compliance requirements.
The Components of a Record Management System
The fundamental components that make up a records management system include:
- Policy and procedure development: The creation of policies that provide authority and define the system’s parameters, relationships, levels of responsibility, and provided services
- Retention and disposition: The establishment of retention and disposition schedules to track storage and inactive document disposal
- Data collection management: An analysis of the system to improve information flow and ensure data collection supports business applications
- Training and outreach: Training that helps others operate the record management system
Types of Record Management Systems
There are two main types of record management systems. These two systems can be broken down even further into several subcategories, but to keep things simple, we’re just going to cover the main ones. These are:
- Cloud-based: A cloud-based system is hosted by your provider and made accessible to your organization online. This system acts like a storage warehouse, so your company can access all of your documents at any time from anywhere.
- On-premises: An on-premises solution requires you to use your own servers and storage, which means you need to perform your own maintenance. You’re also fully responsible for the security of your data.
The Importance of Record Life Cycle Management
In today’s age of compliance, the importance of record management is driven by government regulations. Under the watchful eye of legislators, businesses are expected to follow the proper document management guidelines. A record management system keeps you in compliance with these guidelines.
The goals of a management system include:
- Prevention and detection: The management system makes it highly unlikely for employees to be able to archive all the documents your business creates.
- Risk mitigation: This is a policy that encourages self-reporting to protect your company on all levels.
- Management priorities: Management needs to focus on managing the content first and the medium of that content second.
- Education: This raises compliance awareness so all employees understand their records management roles and obligations.
Benefits of a Document Management System
In addition to helping you stay compliant with regulations, there are a number of benefits to having a file management system. These benefits include:
- Saved time: Rather than waste time on organizing and managing documents, you can focus on other parts of your business.
- Scaling: One of the biggest benefits of record management software is that you can scale its services up or down as needed.
- Easy management: A keyword search allows you to quickly find the documents you’re looking for.
- Collaboration: Management systems encourage collaboration by allowing multiple people to work on the same file at the same time. It can also track each change made to the document.
Implement Your Own Record Management System
Americom is a leading provider of print services and managed IT. If you need your own document management system, we can help. Our team can implement a system for your organization and customize it to meet your operational goals.
Contact us today to learn more.
