Organizations are faced with the reality of integrating complex business record landscape into one paperless and seamless "virtual business record." But where does one start? Paper may have been kept since the beginning of the corporate existence and the idea of document imaging and converting millions of pages is far too costly. Email is the new “Pandora’s box” since it has been identified as a legitimate form of business record. Corporate employees generate and delete emails and instant messaging at will with no regard to this communication being a business record. All other types of electronic content are created, modified and kept in so many locations and versions due to collaborative tools that it may be impossible to manage effectively.
Organizations peer into this “abyss” of business records and become so overwhelmed they often choose to do nothing rather than begin to get control of a particular record type or focus on a functional area of the business. Senior management must take the initiative and drive it down through the organization. Resources, both staffing and financial, must be identified and allocated to get started. A commitment to an ongoing document scanning process must be made. Audits must be performed periodically to ensure the integrity of the process.
Document Storage technology solutions abound. Web based document repositories have become a viable alternative to acquiring document imaging software solutions and document imaging outsourcing is now common business practice. Alternatives can be implemented to address the large paper backfile at a much lower cost yet still bring the information into the newly adopted digital records management process.
