Essential Year-End Records Management Projects
It’s time to get ambitious about the year ahead. Get ready for 2012 by indexing, imaging, storing and purging all of those records you haven’t had time to organize during the year.
“Most Records Management professionals who index and classify previously unindexed records will have the ability to conservatively destroy anywhere from 10 to 30 percent of the newly indexed records. That’s a significant reduction in volume, cost and risk.” – Mike Dennison, Director of Custom Solutions, Iron Mountain
Records management is a daily to-do. But as the end of the year approaches, you may want to tackle some records management projects you’ve been putting off for months. Whether you’re looking to organize your program or improve access, now is the time. We can help with projects to pack, index, classify, image, and relocate records required for retention, or destroy information no longer needed to meet business, regulatory or compliance obligations.
Given the high demands of the current business climate, it often takes extra hands to keep pace with all of your information management responsibilities. The sheer volume of physical and digital information makes it difficult to maintain a consistent, compliant records management program. You may also encounter challenges such as workload spikes, staffing shortfalls, a major move, a new corporate mandate, a merger or acquisition, or shifting compliance requirements.
Fortunately, Iron Mountain can help—whether you have a short-term staffing shortage or need a team of experts for a complex, longer-term project that involves one office, multiple markets, or spans the entire country. Our expert project teams can deal with your information-management challenges while you focus on wrapping up your busy year.
Get Organized
What's the potential payback? Indexing records and applying retention increases overall accessibility, and leads to the reduction of both retrieval costs and storage overhead. "The most critical component is to identify and understand what you have," says Mike Dennison, Director of Custom Solutions at Iron Mountain. "From there, legally-credible retention and destruction decisions can be made that align with both your internal policies and your business and regulatory obligations."
You can start with 1) a plan to index and classify unindexed records. This formidable key project boosts retrieval accuracy and helps identify records for destruction. "Most Records Management professionals who index and classify previously unindexed records will have the ability to conservatively destroy anywhere from 10 to 30 percent of the newly indexed records. That can result in a significant reduction in volume and reduce your risk that information is discoverable," says Dennison. “It’s all about making quality disposition decisions”.
Another great end-of-year project is 2) selective or complete back-file imaging, a process that quickly and cost-effectively converts physical documents to digital format. You can view these files via a Web-based repository offering expedited access.
For example, an Iron Mountain team worked with a large insurance company to scan 400,000 claim files—more than 25 million images. The imaging was conducted in order to meet a litigation request. The team was able to get this done before the 60-day deadline, increase process efficiencies, reduce the company’s risk, and better prepare it for any future litigation or audits. And the Iron Mountain team accomplished the task at half the original budgeted cost.
First the Merge, Then the Purge?
Even if your projects aren't nearly that significant in scope, you probably face similar issues. "We see it all the time," says Dennison. "Records Managers inherit inventories of records from acquisitions, mergers, office moves—you name it. They often have no idea what they've got, so they resist destroying anything. Our goal? Help them understand what they have and do what we can to help reduce their storage volume and reduce risks."
Along those lines, Dennison suggests two more special end-of-year projects: 3) packing and inventory preparation for the records you’ve identified for offsite storage, and 4) one-time shredding projects that help you clear out documents that are no longer needed to meet business, legal or regulatory obligations.
"These are projects that people may think they can do on their own," he says. "But sometimes the current economic climate impacts our customers’ ability to follow through on such projects themselves—they need to focus on their core business objectives." In the end-of-the-year rush, Iron Mountain can act as an extension of your records management staff by helping to get these records management tasks accomplished, allowing your team to focus on your business.
A good information management program should focus on these core goals:
- Compliance
- Risk mitigation
- Cost control
- Accessibility to records
When you team with Iron Mountain, you’ll likely boost efficiency, improve information accessibility, lower costs, increase compliance and security, and free up valuable resources to focus on your core business. Best of all, you’ll finally start whittling down the to-do list you’ve had all year.
Let Iron Mountain help you with one or more of these year-end projects:
1. Index and classify unindexed records. Boost your records-retrieval accuracy and identify records eligible for destruction, creating significant savings.
2. Conduct selective or complete back-file imaging. Convert physical documents to digital format and house them in a Web-based repository. This affords easy document access—another time and money saver.
3. Packing and inventory preparation. Once you’ve identified records destined for offsite storage, we’ll do all the heavy lifting with packing, data capture, labeling and shipment. You and your team can focus on core business affairs.
4. Tackle one-time shredding projects. The end of the year gives you one last chance to purge unneeded records.
Additional benefits of these one-time initiatives include:
- Improved overall quality of your information management program
- More accessible records
- Enhanced inventory integrity
- Increased retrieval accuracy
- Optimal regulatory compliance
- Improved e-discovery response times
- Mitigated risk
- Controlled information management costs
Do you have questions about one-time project engagements or Iron Mountain capabilities? Contact Iron Mountain. You’ll be connected with a knowledgeable product and services specialist who can address your specific challenges.
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