Document Management News

Electronic records at firms are much more likely to be unmanaged than paper records, according to industry researcher AIIM (www.aiim.org), with 26% of organisations admitting that no records management disciplines are applied to the majority of their electronic records.

In a new survey entitled “Electronic Records Management - still playing catch-up with paper,” AIIM found that policies for applying legal hold to electronic records exist in only 56% of organisations compared to 71% for paper records.

With IT staff rather than records management staff expected to carry out records management processes on electronic documents and emails, organisations could be heading for trouble, said AIIM.

Based on 800 responses, the AIIM survey shows that the volume of paper records is still increasing in over half of organisations, but in 21% it is finally showing signs of going down.

Meanwhile, 70% of respondents report that the volume of electronic records is increasing rapidly, with none reporting a decrease. Over half of the respondents now scan newly received paper items and file them electronically.

On the other hand, as well as directly filing incoming paper documents, 40% admit that they print newly generated electronic documents and emails for the purpose of filing them as paper records.

John Mancini, president of AIIM, said, “I’m concerned that management of electronic records is still not being taken as seriously as the management of paper records. We found that over a third of organisations, if challenged, would not be confident that their electronic records had not been changed, deleted or inappropriately accessed."

Mancini said, "For organisations with over 5,000 employees, this lack of confidence rises to 43%. These companies would be at a major disadvantage in any legal action – defending or prosecuting.”