Understanding The Records Management Challenge

Failure to comply — a costly proposition

Corporate executives are painfully aware of the need for "compliance," thanks to regulations such as Sarbanes-Oxley, industry-specific mandates, and a raft of financial scandals. Legislation now spells out what was only implicit before: all electronic information, including e-mail and even instant messaging, has to be logged, saved, indexed for search and retrieval, and securely retained for a specific number of years. Numerous mandates also stiffen civil and criminal penalties for non-compliance and hold the CEOs accountable.

Perhaps an even bigger worry is the ever-present threat of litigation: the ability to find and produce all related documents for discovery on demand could mean the difference between winning and losing millions of dollars. Often these records are e-mails, such as interoffice memos and customer correspondence, which are staggeringly expensive to produce on demand, can easily contain incriminating evidence, and, if unlawfully destroyed, expose the organization to severe consequences. Most executives now understand the serious nature of records management.