An Excellent New Year’s Resolution: Outsourcing Records Management
With 2012 just around the corner, it is time for businesses to begin considering operational changes for the new year.
With current economic conditions in mind, many businesses are still looking for ways to minimize capital spending and operate as efficiently as possible. One often overlooked method of accomplishing this goal is to outsource records management to a third-party document storage specialist.
Outsourcing records management gives businesses significant operational advantages that they can use to gain leverage over their competitors. For the most part, these benefits focus on improving internal operational efficiency in such a way that costs are reduced. Three primary areas that benefit from outsourced records management include regulatory compliance, staffing and long-term archiving.
Every business is subject to specific regulatory guidelines that establish best practices and legal regulations to govern data protection and security. These standards, which vary from the Health Information Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) in healthcare and the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards for companies that handle credit card data, are often accompanied by heavy fines for organizations responsible for a data breach through their own negligence.
Organizations are often required to follow multiple standards simultaneously, and keeping track of regulations and ensuring they are followed is a daunting task. By outsourcing records management to a specialist, companies can benefit from consulting services that help install operational policies that ensure industry standards are met. Furthermore, these service providers can offer specialized document storage environments that are certified for regulatory compliance.
The process of records management outsourcing also simplifies staffing. Many companies maintain dedicated staff to enforce regulatory compliance, develop records management policies, properly store paper files and access documents that are located in the corporate storage center. By moving to a third-party provider, organizations can turn to the vendor to complete most of these tasks. This allows the company to repurpose that staff for other operations that focus more heavily on creating revenue or supporting critical services. This allows for more efficient operational capabilities and helps businesses make the most of their personnel resources.
Long-term archiving is another issue that outsourcing can ease. Many organizations, especially government agencies and offices, have to maintain their files for an extended period of time, more than a decade in some instances. To retain these records, these companies need to collect files efficiently, pack them in a sturdy container and keep them in an environmentally-controlled space. Some institutions attempt to simply stick these boxes in basement or attic spaces. However, reports of flooding and water damages caused by leaks make any storage in basements risky. In upper floors, organizations face risks associated with birds and other animals entering through cracks and windows. In extreme cases, companies storing large quantities of files have had the walls begin to buckle under the weight created by the documents.
Outsourcing long-term storage eases all of these concerns without sacrificing availability, making it an ideal solution for companies that retain their documents for an extended period, regardless of the reason.
The benefits of outsourcing records management are clear, and organizations can leverage these gains to significantly reduce spending. For example, the government of Niagara Region, Ontario, recently announced plans to outsource its records management process and plans to save hundreds of thousands of dollars during the first few years of the program, NiagaraThisWeek reported. The new strategy will be put into place pending approval by the regional council.
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Checklist: Best Practices of Secure and Efficient Records Storage
- Identify important records. First determine what’s in your archives and what’s vital to your business. Then shield the latter from accidental destruction.
- Develop a data destruction policy, and make it public. Colleagues who learn how to handle data properly are less likely to destroy it.
- Create an ongoing delete schedule. Do you clean your garage only once? Develop an ongoing plan to eliminate unneeded information.
- Establish a strong partnership. Join forces with an experienced, reliable records-management vendor.
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