When Is It OK To "Shred" Electronic Information? — A Guide To Document Retention

By Edward Alexei, VP of IT Solutions, Tangent

Document overload is something that has plagued business owners for some time. The decision to archive documents and electronically stored information, especially for small businesses, is something that could impact their business or even legal standing if records are required in the future. There needs to be a policy established that will analyze what needs to stay archived and which documents or data can be destroyed. The following will provide an overview of how to save network space, stay FRCP compliant, and retain important information quickly.

Document Retention limits how long records are stored by creating guidelines of how long information should be stored and what kind of documents qualify for retention. First your organization should sort documents into categories that presently exist and prepare for future documentation storage. There should be a category for sales leads, human resources, and accounting. Additional categories are set for your organizational needs when establishing guidelines that define what could be required for legal reference.

First- organize and find the best people to maintain the document retention guidelines for your organization. These should be of course your IT Department, human resources, and administration should all be on the committee for the decision making process. You should be able to understand what purpose each document retains and if it could it be used in the future. Identify if there will be legal consequences if the document cannot be located in the future. This can be related to either state or local standards.