Moving Out of a Niche, Into the IT Mainstream
Context
December 2004

What's Next for Compliance?
Churchill said success is not dependent on knowing what to do but on what to do next. Four recent developments point to new directions to consider for records retention efforts.
December 2004

Measure the Total Cost of Failure
Return on investment and total cost of ownership don't quite cut it. There's a new math for calculating the value of information management compliance.
November 2004

Compliance Drives Growth in Corporate Scanning
Regulatory compliance is injecting a power surge into automated scanning.
September 2004

A Lemon That Makes Tasty Lemonade
E-mail archiving for compliance reasons may seem like an expensive burden, but it's helping organizations cut the costs of message management and search.
August 2004

What You Should Know About E-Mail Archiving
E-mail retention needs often conflict -- even among departments in the same company. Records management expert Julie Gable suggests seven steps to effective archiving.
August 2004

XML Keeps Them Flying
The job of getting a commercial airliner safely off the ground is complex. Every task involves documentation, and industry experts quip that the paperwork for an airliner can weigh more than the aircraft itself. Grappling with a costly maintenance procedure, Continental has developed an XML-based document authoring and distribution process that is saving the airline as much as $800,000 per year.
May 2004

AIIM 2004: The Dogs That Didn't Bark
Compliance was the theme at this year's AIIM show, but is the message "the government says that you have to do it" compelling and visionary? Rather than taking a passive stand, vendors should take a leading role in encouraging organizations to embrace technologies that will change the definition and use of content in business.
April 2004

Look Beyond Records for SOX Compliance
Despite the blizzard of webinars, white papers and magazine stories to the contrary, SOX compliance is not fundamentally a problem of records management nor a set of procedures designed to close the books faster or enforce controls inside IT systems. SOX compliance is essentially a process of analysis, documentation, human judgement and record keeping.
March 2004

Where to Start With Records Management
Ask the Experts
September 2003

The Real (Legal) Deal
Convincing courts that electronic documents are trustworthy takes some doing. Evidence must be authenticated: that is, proven to be real by having the author, the signor or someone knowledgeable testify that the record is genuine. The irony is that plantiffs use your records, gathered during discovery, against you. Meanwhile, in order to use your own records in your defense, you must show that the records aren't manufactured, that they adequately represent the facts, and that they haven't been altered.
September 2003

Can You Buy Compliance?
Words from the Editor
August 2003

Adding Records To the ECM Mix
The combined electronic records management requirements of Sarbanes-Oxley, SEC Rule 17, HIPAA and federal rules on litigation discovery may look like an impossible mountain to climb. But instead of worrying, IT people often point to a particular software component addressing one piece of the problem - a document management system, an email archive or a corporate file plan and records retention schedule. What's really needed is a more holistic, integrated approach.
July 2003

Records Management FAQs
You know it's time to buy a records management system, but where do you start? What should such a system cost? How important is certification? Our resident records management expert provides a tutorial with an eye toward the latest regulations.
June 2003

Your CEO Wants to Know ... Will Your Records Strategy Pass the Test?
Nothing captures a CEO's attention like the sight of a peer being led away in handcuffs, as happened in several high-profile corporate scandals last year. Tough new laws have put the teeth into rules and regulations, but experts say the technologies and strategies required for compliance remain the same. Records managers at large corporations and accounting firms reveal their strategies for retaining records, including email.
May 2003

Sarbanes-Oxley: Something for Everyone
The Sarbanes-Oxley Act, which became law at the end of July, makes it a crime to impair or destroy any record that might be needed for official proceedings such as federal investigations or bankruptcy filings. To ensure compliance, companies will need to develop clear policies, proper records management systems, adequate audit trails and thorough employee training programs.
February 2003

Lifelines in Hard Times: HIPAA & Other IT Mandates
Major IT initiatives may be a tough sell in this economy, but many organizations are investing in order to meet government mandates and competitive threats.
November 2002

Assessing the Costs of Records Management
Gartner identifies records management as an enterprise application - an equal among such strategic technologies as customer relationship management or enterprise resource planning.
October 2002

Document Imaging FAQ
Should you centralize or distribute scanning operations? Should you destroy documents after they're scanned? Should backfiles be imaged, and how far back should you go? Julie Gable answers the top four questions in document imaging.
July 2002

A Five-Part Strategy for Records Management
Effective records management programs require policies, retention schedules, procedures, training and auditing. Skip any one element and the ability to justify information management decisions wobbles like an uneven chair. Julie Gable outlines a complete approach.
May 2002