It wouldn’t be an overstatement that organizations are drowning in data. For the most part, this is an excellent problem to have. More data means more information on what works for an organization, what might work, what might not, and most importantly, what directions promise the best results. However, responsibly handling that data can also be a significant challenge.
According to a study, employees spend nearly 30% of their work time searching for documents. In short, poor recordkeeping is not only inefficient and a regulatory risk, but can also lead to loss of institutional knowledge. The solution? Simple. Records management.
Records management is a fairly simple practice of ensuring all records within an organization are captured, organized, protected, and disposed of in a systematic manner that complies with both regulatory expectations and organizational cultures. Through it, the organization can ensure all vital information is available and easily accessible when required, sensitive data is always secure, and that decisions and actions are all appropriately documented over time.
It is also complemented through proper policies, roles, automation tools, and enforcement, which all come together to ensure the most critical asset within organizations, i.e., data, is managed as efficiently as possible, leaving it fully ready to be leveraged for various other use cases. Read on to learn more.
Why Records Management For Businesses
For most organizations, records management is more than just an administrative necessity, though it may be the initial reason behind its adoption. Regardless of an organization’s scale, size, or industry, they most likely have some form of records management already integrated with regard to their corporate governance, risk management, and operational bookkeeping.
As more information gets created, it should become apparent why simply keeping records of this information is not nearly enough. Such information, ranging from customer data to important details of partner contracts and shareholder agreements, needs a structured approach for both management and its appropriate security. Failure to do so not only leads to operational inefficiencies but also results in several legal liabilities, while leading to loss of information.
Per a 2024 Association for Intelligent Information Management (AIIM) report, nearly 60% of organizations face legal and compliance issues directly because of poor recordkeeping. What should be the most straightforward element of regulatory compliance is essentially one of the weakest links for most organizations.
Consider the 2017 Equifax breach. Various lapses in data governance and data retention policies amplified the eventual fallout. The $700 million settlement should mitigate the devastating consequences of obsolete sensitive record-keeping. Not to mention an increasing number of regulations, such as GDPR, HIPAA, SOX, and others, require appropriate records management not just as a good practice but as an organizational obligation. In 2023, the Information Commissioner’s Office in the UK fined several public bodies for their mismanagement of records that contained citizens’ personal data.
Benefits Of Record Management
Some of the most important benefits of records management include:
a. Enhances Operational Efficiency
Record management done well streamlines how information is captured, stored, retrieved, and rearranged across the organization. As a result, employees have to spend less time searching for the documents and more time focusing on leveraging them to perform high-value tasks. This is backed up by the aforementioned McKinsey report, which revealed how professionals spend nearly 20% of their workweek looking for internal information and other resources.
This time can effortlessly be saved by organized records management and mechanisms such as clear taxonomies and automated indexing. With the most accurate and latest versions of documents readily available, more informed decision-making can be done, collaboration can be seamless, and work environments can be more efficient.
b. Ensures Legal & Regulatory Compliance
Businesses face a greater degree of regulatory oversight than ever before. Every action is subject to some legal obligation, and record management is no different. There are specific guidelines through both regulations and other standards mandating details such as how long records must be retained, how they must be secured, and how they should be disposed of., in addition to several other requirements.
Non-compliance with these requirements not only carries substantial fines but also reputational damage and even criminal liability. Through records management done right, organizations can ensure all important records are properly categorized and retained per legal necessities and timelines.
c. Strengthens Data Security & Privacy
Records management can be leveraged as a way to complement an organization’s data security infrastructure to protect its sensitive and confidential information. It specifies how different categories of data must be stored and protected. This approach not only minimizes the risks related to unauthorized access to data, breaches, and other insider threats but also allows for integration with other security controls such as encryption, access controls, and audit trails.
Adopting this approach ensures alignment with the privacy-by-design principles and allows for proactiveness in managing records based on their degree of sensitivity and importance for the organization.
d. Reduces Cost & Storage Overhead
Unmanaged data has a hidden threat: cost. Unmanaged data is a costly burden, with unnecessary and duplicate records inflating storage costs and the administrative workload associated with them. With records management, businesses can identify ROT data and dispose of it securely, which not only optimizes storage but also improves performance and reduces infrastructure costs.
Digitalization incentives free up valuable office space and minimize the environmental impact. For organizations taking their CSR responsibilities seriously, this represents a different vector of benefits leveraged from effective records management.
e. Supports Business Continuity
Well-maintained records are the very foundation of business continuity. In case of any unforeseen circumstances, such as a disaster, cyber incident, or system failure, organizations have records that are both easily accessible and up to date, and easily leveraged to recover critical information without any unnecessary delay. Mechanisms to enable such fast recovery would include off-site storage, cloud replication, and disaster recovery planning to minimize downtime and information loss.
This was never more apparent than during the COVID-19 pandemic, where organizations that had digital record management systems adapted comparatively more easily to remote operations since the foundation to fuel such ways of operations was already there. In other words, it didn’t only protect information, it facilitated organizational resilience and continuity.
Key Principles Of Records Management
The key principles involved in records management are as follows:
a. Accountability
Accountability in records management ensures that responsibilities for personnel and different interconnected systems are clearly defined and enforced across the board. This involves establishing governance structures, assigning ownership of various assets, and implementing oversight mechanisms meant to ensure compliance with internal policies as well as external regulatory requirements.
Through such accountability, organizations can promote transparency and reduce the risks of mishandling information. Not only would this mean a chain of accountability for each record, but it would also guarantee audit readiness at every juncture.
b. Integrity
Integrity is vital in ensuring that records are kept trustworthy and unadulterated. Both customers and partners have certain expectations from the data being collected. Records should reflect the reality of transactions, decisions, and events as they occur. This can be done through version control, audit trails, and access logs to not only preserve the authenticity of the documents but also to mitigate the chances of unauthorized changes.
This can be particularly important in industries such as healthcare and finance, where the accuracy of records can have significant implications for people’s health, legal, and financial futures and outcomes.
c. Protection
Protection refers to keeping records safe against possible loss, unauthorized access, and destruction. It involves the implementation of data security measures such as encryption, user authentication, and physical safeguards to keep a trail of records. The highest priority must be the sensitive information assets, particularly IP and PII.
This circles back to the organizational obligations related to data security. Organizations that have robust records management, with regular backups and strict access controls, cannot only protect their data assets better but can also recover data and minimize the damage if the worst comes to pass.
d. Compliance
Arguably, the most common reason why most organizations have to elevate themselves from basic record keeping is to ensure compliance with applicable laws, regulations, and industry standards. This involves adherence to the relevant retention schedules, privacy requirements, and automated discovery obligations.
Moreover, different regulations often carry different requirements in the minutiae. Hence, organizations must have records management frameworks that are robust but also flexible enough to ensure compliance with each of them, as the slightest deviation can lead to non-compliance.
e. Accessibility & Availability
Probably the most fundamental reason to have records management in the first place is to ensure timely access to records that are retrievable and usable at a moment’s notice, without compromising the overall security or privacy. Such a system, when well-organized and complemented with the right mechanisms such as classification schemes, metadata tagging, and digital repositories, can help make all records easily discoverable and searchable.
Not only does this enhance the overall productivity, but it also strengthens organizational resilience and institutional memory, while balancing accessibility with data protection obligations.
Records Management Standards
a. International Standards
As far as modern records management practices are concerned, the most relevant standard is the ISO 15489 - Information and Documentation: Records Management, established by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). It outlines the principles and practices for managing records across their entire lifecycle, with an emphasis on authenticity, reliability, integrity, and usability, aligning with a benchmark for developing and auditing records management programs. It is also complemented by other frameworks, such as the ISO 30300, which in turn focuses on management systems for records.
ISO 27001 serves as the information security management standard and is also relevant for organizations that wish to have appropriate records management to protect their information assets through strict security controls.
b. Industry Specific & Global Regulations
This can be a comprehensive and exhaustive section since there are hundreds, if not thousands, of such regulations, both globally and industry-specific. The GDPR, for instance, requires organizations to retain personal data only for as long as necessary for the purpose for which it was collected and consented to by the user. Compliance with this obligation will only be possible if the organization has a system in place that can give it complete clarity over the requirements related to each data asset.
Other regulations, such as the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX), HIPAA, FRA, and others, require various bodies to comply with various obligations related to the maintenance, disposal, and protection of all collected records, along with numerous transparency and accountability requirements.
How Securiti Can Help
Record management, at its core, is all about documentation. And for organizations, documentation means establishing inventories, a chain of accountability and having the necessary proofs for future audits, improvements, and, of course, regulatory assessments.
Owing to the sheer volume, complexity, and velocity of data now involved, organizations must now opt for automated approaches towards data discovery, classification, and cataloging n. Manual attempts would not only be futile but also a tremendous waste of time and resources when measured against automated solutions.
And that is where Securiti can help.
Securiti is a global leader in data privacy, security, and compliance solutions. It enables organizations to automate discovery, classification, and compliance with global regulations.
Through its DataAI Command Center, Securiti helps you automate your data protection impact assessments, real-time data mapping, DSR fulfillment, privacy notice management, breach notification management, and universal consent management from a centralized dashboard, allowing for complete oversight of your real-time compliance with multiple regulations.
Most importantly, it ensures a comprehensive documentation of all such processes without compromising on efficiency, effectiveness, or the innovative capabilities within organizations.
Request a demo today to see Securiti in action and learn more about how it can aid your organization in instilling a secure records management infrastructure.
Here are some commonly asked questions you may have related to records management:
