Return on Investment (ROI) is at the heart of every significant business decision.

 In the simplest of terms it is a measure of what you get for what you give.

Research by Ohio State University found that 4 out of 5 buyers seek “value” before price. In other words, most people will give more to get more. “Value” includes Quality, Flexibility of the offering and Availability all as a function of Price. “Quality” means the product delivers what is required (or wanted) and does what is promised. Economists call this the “Law of Marginal Utility.” For the rest of us, it means what blows your hair back won’t necessarily interest the next guy.  When we talk about ROI, we have to keep it in the context of what is important to the buyer.

What are businesses requiring today?

 First, they want more customers and more sales. That is pretty well true no matter what the economic conditions are. Beyond that, however, is that business today is desperately seeking ways to engineer cost out of the business. Most of the improved earnings reports are the result of cost reductions. And while cost reduction began as a way to respond to the recession, evidence suggests that it is quickly becoming a permanent part of business culture.

With a paper-based invoice processing system the company incurs a significant “cost” in handling paper, but it is difficult to quantify the short-run cash savings. Creating a long-run “saving” by installing imaging, for example, doesn’t add value if I still have the floor space, the employees and all my other out-of-pocket expenses. The value may be intrinsic, but few businesses are investing today based upon intangible value. The CFO will say “Show me the money!”

FileBound offers a rare opportunity to eliminate work at a value-based price.  A major task in the AP department is entering data from paper invoices into the Accounting System. Typical information entered is a vendor name, purchase order number, invoice number, payment due date and general ledger account code (s) and total due. Because this information is normally put into the accounting system after all processing and approvals, other logging and data entry of the invoice typically takes place before the invoice is ready for entry to the accounting system.

With FileBound all of this changes. Invoices are scanned immediately upon arrival. The needed information is electronically picked up off the invoice and captured eliminating data entry and other manual tasks to a fraction of the time normally required. Routing and review of invoices is all handled electronically, eliminating hand routing and handling of the invoices. Finally, the scanned information is automatically imported into the general ledger accounting system and invoices can be paid without further data entry.

Best of all, not only is the work more efficient, much of the original work (key entering data) is gone forever. This provides the opportunity to either repurpose staff to cash-producing work (such as AR collections and sales proposal follow-ups) or eliminate head count. Either way, the business gets cash returns for the investment.

Added benefits include improved accuracy and reduced mailing expense. Errors in data entry create extra work and cost. With FileBound , that problem is gone forever because the information is picked up electronically from the invoice. Invoices received at field offices are now scanned eliminating mailing or courier expense.

High value for a low price with FileBound – an easy ROI!

Record Storage Systems can show you a demo of the FileBound document management system.  Call 704/588-2820 to schedule.

Reprinted:   January 30, 2012

Here are 8 ways in which “true” electronic forms can transform your business. This is especially important since according the Gartner, 85% of business processes rely on forms.

1 — Eliminate the Paper from the Beginning.

E-forms are more than just an electronic version of a paper form. They promptly capture, verify, approve and integrate data with the critical business systems used to run organizations.  When information is automatically captured and distributed without a paper form to begin with, business processes are streamlined, efficiency is improved, costs are cut and your organization becomes a little greener.

2 — Release the Information Needed to Run Your Business.

Most of the information needed to run your business is trapped on paper and paper equivalents such as Word® documents, PDF files and pre-printed forms.  By capturing and moving crucial information—previously trapped —into core business systems faster and more affordably, e-forms enable organizations to improve customer service, shorten cycle times and lower operating costs.

3 — Integrate Data with Core Business Systems Automatically.

Once submitted, data entered on an e-form can be saved to one or more business system databases automatically and seamlessly.  With two-way integration, an existing database can pre-fill a form, allowing for confirmation of information and elimination of user error.  Integration is secure and works within an organization’s IT architectural structure and standards. Data captured on e-forms are typically sent to HR, finance, customer support and custom applications. The e-forms themselves reside within an electronic content management system for secure storage, retrieval, distribution and management.

4 — Improve Data Accuracy.

Auto drop down lists and completion guides with field-specific instructions ensure data is captured accurately and completely. E-forms can auto-populate fields based on prior data entered and validate field-level data and form-level completeness before submission. Without the need for someone to manually enter data from a paper form into another system, data entry errors are eliminated and no data is lost in transcription.

5 — Kick off Automated Workflow.

Once submitted, e-forms can implement an automated workflow based on an organization’s business rules. Employee applications can be distributed to the appropriate individual in HR for review, sales orders can be sent to a manager for approval and then on to distribution for delivery, credit applications can be sent to the appropriate manager in the finance department for immediate review and approval. Automated workflow is seamless, quick and ensures accountability.

6 — Digitally Signed E-Forms are Legally Binding.

Digital signature technology allows users to sign an e-form without the need for distributed digital certificates or third party certificate authorities. Existing login ID/Passwords can be used for signing e-forms and built-in encryption tools allow for secure transmission of data.

7 — Easy to Design & Set Up.

E-forms are easy to design, create and publish with no programming skills required. Features such as drag and drop, pre-built field validation controls and group controls ensure sophisticated layouts with trouble-free design and implementation.  Existing paper forms and PDFs can be easily copied or customized so screens can have a familiar user interface to speed adoption.

8 — Realize a Quick ROI.

E-forms can deliver an ROI in as little as a few months, depending upon the number of forms processed monthly. Form completion costs, processing costs and correction costs are radically reduced. Paper related expenses, such as supplies, storage and transportation, are eliminated altogether.

Record Storage Systems provides E-Form implementation with FileBound Document Management Software.  Call 704/588-2820 today for simple instructions on ‘how to’ implement e-forms.

Ministries and public agencies have embarked on a journey towards paperless correspondence to increase transparency and accountability in their operations.

Public Service Minister Dalmas Otieno said the five-year plan would ensure communication within the government was completely computerised.

In line with the new move, about 560 record management officers are to be posted in registries of each ministry to transform flow of information from manual to digital.

At the same time, all past correspondence — circulars, memos or vouchers — are to be scanned and stored electronically for easier retrieval.

“The need for excellent record management practices is paramount as there is an increasing amount of information available today,” Mr Otieno said last week.

“This plan aims to modernise records management to enable the government to become more responsive to needs of citizens and deliver service more efficiently and effectively.”

Speaking in Nairobi, Mr Otieno noted that improving records management was also fundamental to the concept of democracy.

“Recorded information ensures the protection of human rights, the rule of law, fairness and equal treatment of citizens,” he said.

He noted that Kenyans expected the government to maintain reliable and accurate evidence of its decisions and actions.

“The strategy will ensure that government’s activities are documented and maintained, with officials getting the right information at the right time and at the least possible cost.”

Head of Public Service Francis Muthaura said the digitised system would enable his officers to perform their duties effectively.

“Kenya like other countries in Africa such as Ghana, Uganda and Zimbabwe among former British colonies, still operate a paper-based registry system,” Mr Muthaura said.

Jim McCarry - A four drawer filing cabinet from a Financial Adviser’s office, using a 50 page per minute scanner, will take between 20-24 hours. This includes document preparation (removing staples, paper clips, tags etc), scanning, quality checking, indexing and exporting to removable media.

Truth or myth, will there be a paperless office?

Richard Atkins• I believe many offices can use less paper than they do now for meeting handouts, presentations and reading material by better using screens/projectors in meetings and possibly e-ink devices for reviewing documents.
I do not yet see a replacement for the working/notes/dairy/scrap book most office people have. Mine is very important and digitising it would be combersome and reduce my freedom of movement, unless I used some sort of super light tablet PC with freehand notation.
I really do believe that paper less is the way forward, printing paper wastes time with printing/print preview, paper toners, re-filling printers. Paper also stacks up around desks generally creating a mess and prevents enforcing clear-desk policies and general productivity when hunting for paperwork that is otherwise instantly digitally searchable. Digital documentation also has the potential for rich metadata (when I last saw it, was sent it, wrote on it etc….) which is not captured on paper.

Jenny Savage – My 21 year old was amazed to learn I had a file drawer with paper files.  The next generation will make the paperless office a reality. 

Trying to validate stakeholder’s request to re-assemble, staple, and re-clip paper docs after scanning? What do you do? How have you dealt with this?

Some of our stakeholders want the disassemled docs to be scanned and then re-assembled to look exactly like they did prior to scanning. These docs may have stapled bundles within stapled bundles within clipped bundles. Currently, our scanning company inserts separator sheets between unstapled docs and leaves the sheets in the docs after scanning. The paper is returned to our archives

Stewart Stead• This solution to this is to, as the other comments explain, categorize the documents by tagging them for ‘deconstruction / reconstruction’. We used coloured markers that protruded from the edge of the document. These mark staples, paper clips, folders, string binds etc. One person would mark for deconstruction and take the document apart, another would scan and reconstruct, in a seamless production line style.

This type of work costs, and cost more than the cost to scan a single page. It is time consuming and takes a dedicated professional person to get it right.

I scanned legal documents that were managed under chain of custody and they had to be presented in court in the ‘original format’ after the digitization for OCR and digital storage purposes.

Document management software charges by the number of users – It’s too expensive by the user!

Is there another option?

FileBound Document Management system is unique in it’s licensing model.  One license applies to UNLIMITED users.  That means, everyone authorized to the system can have access on day one.  Radical.  Pricing is based on the amount of storage.  Storage volumes can be controlled by off-loading to DVD’s or harddrives after a couple of years.  Love It!

Record Storage Systems is a FileBound partner.  Contact Jenny Savage at 704/309-4410 for more information.

Law Technology News

October 24, 2011

It’s a different scale of records management: Electronic Records Archives, the U.S. government’s content management system with public accessibility, is on track to be used by 190 federal agencies by the end of 2012.

Large law firms and corporation counsel may possess huge document repositories, but they don’t compare to the federal system. “Today ERA is storing a collection of electronic records so vast that it can be hard to comprehend,” totalling more than 103 terabytes and constantly growing, said David Ferriero, archivist of the United States, at the ARMA conference this week in National Harbor, Md.

“Less than two decades ago we were storing less than 2,000 electronic data files,” but now the 2010 national census alone is 300 TB, Ferriero noted.

ERA, as of Sept. 30, concluded its development phase, and now IBM will supply maintenance, Ferriero said. “ERA will evolve as records change and new technology options become available to us,” he said. There will be a separate section of ERA for storing classified documents, Chief Records Officer Paul Wester added.

In addition, ERA will have an element that private businesses can emulate—the Citizen Archivist Dashboard, which is a way for end users to contribute, tag, and describe documents. Details will be announced Nov. 4, Ferriero wrote on his blog.

Meanwhile, a variety of software companies announced new products at the conference, designed to help with similar challenges on a corporate scale. Hewlett-Packard’s Autonomy subsidiary released Policy Authority, which consolidates record-keeping and access policies across content repositories. Another company well-known in the legal field, StoredIQ, introduced its RecordsIQ module—the software “provides in-place analysis and classification of data without requiring knowledge worker involvement,” company officials stated. Still another company, OpenText, upgraded its Social Communities framework to include customizable applications and integration with mainstream social networking sites.

Yet all three software firms were overshadowed by Microsoft’s elaboration of its SharePoint-based content management plans in conjunction with IronMountain and GimmalSoft—and that news itself became overshadowed the next day by Oracle acquiring Endeca Technologies in response to the HP-Autonomy deal. Information technology giant IBM, for its part, is likely to have information governance news next week at its Information OnDemand 2011 conference in Las Vegas.

Other announcements for dealing with the data deluge came from DocFinity, which added a records management module to its wider content/process-management system; Laserfiche, which introduced an Apple iPhone interface; and RSD, which upgraded its system to support documents from Iron Mountain and Microsoft SharePoint.

This article originally appeared in Law Technology News.

Sponsored by:  Aiim.org 

Can you work with less paper?  Let’s find out. 

Record Storage Systems, a local record center storing over 1 million cubic feet of paper records, says, “We Can Do It!”

Jenny Savage of Record Storage Systems states “We make our living off storing business records for our clients, but the time has come to go paperless!”  Record Storage Systems goals for October 27^th are

• Not print anything that is not necessary on Oct 27th.
• Instead of creating delivery tickets for signature, we will capture signatures electronically.
• Electronically transfer computer generated records to the e-file cabinet in our FileBound software for processing and future retrievals.

Check out AIIM’s video and learn more facts about World Paper Free Day http://www.aiim.org/events/paper-free-day

Cost Savings

• It costs $25,000 to fill a 4 drawer filing cabinet, $2,000 to maintain (futurelawoffice.com)
  Average cost of courier – $15
  15% of an organizations revenues are spent creating, managing & distributing documents
  60% of employee time is spent working with document

Legality of Digital Images

• Digital image copies, like all other types of copies, are acceptable in any legal or administrative proceeding regardless of whether the original is in existence or not …
  (The Legality of Digital Image Copies of Paper Records, Cohasset Associates)

Were you aware that…

• The amount of wood and paper thrown away each year is enough to heat 50 million homes for 20 years?
• If every American recycled just one-tenth of their newspapers, this would save about 25 million trees a year?
• Recycled paper also takes 60-70% less energy to produce than paper from virgin pulp?
• On average, it costs $30 per ton to recycle trash, $50 per ton to send it to the landfill, and $65 to $75 per ton to incinerate it?

(Source: http://www.opin.com/green/facts.php)

 Join us in reducing the use of paper, toner, and filing space around the world for a day!

Contact Information

Jenny Savage

Senior Account Executive

Record Storage System

www.RecordStorage.com

Direct:  704/309-4410

Email:  jsavage@RecordStorage.com

Main:  704/588-2820

AMSTERDAM | Thu Oct 6, 2011 12:34pm EDT

Reprinted from Reuters.com

AMSTERDAM Oct 6 (Reuters) – Members of the Dutch Senate, or upper house of parliament, won’t strain their backs or weigh down their bike panniers by carrying stacks of printed documents from work any more, since they are all now expected to work on their Apple iPads.

When members of the Senate returned from the summer recess two weeks ago, they were told they had one week left of working with printed files: After that they must stop printing out documents and wasting paper, and learn how to use a new Senate app especially designed for their new iPads.

The Dutch Senate is the first in Europe to distribute digital documents through a tablet computer. Two weeks into the project the 75 senators are generally “delighted” with managing the reams of documents using their iPads, according to Secretary General of the Senate, Geert Jan Hamilton.

“We have had enormous piles of paper couriered to our houses every week, thick envelopes with planning and committee meeting documents, but now from 6 pm every Friday you just open the Senate app and find all the documents for the next week,” Hamilton told Reuters on Thursday, a day after the man credited with inspiring the iPad’s creation died.

Although printing the occasional document is permitted, it is expected that most of the senators will use the iPad exclusively once they are accustomed to using the tablet computer.

They can use their iPads to consult and manage information, including calendars, legislative bills, parliamentary correspondence, and meeting documents through an app developed especially for the Dutch Senate.

Creating the Senate app and buying the iPads, a plan which has been in the works for about a year, cost about 150,000 euros ($201,053) and according to Hamilton will save the Senate around 140,000 euros in printing and courier costs in the first year.

“I am very optimistic that this will reduce costs,” said Hamilton, adding that after the first year, he expects the annual costs for the upkeep and occasional printing of some documents will be in the 35,000 euro range.

The iPads, considered an office tool and equipped only with various news-related approved apps, won’t have any connectivity problems in the historic Dutch parliamentary buildings, since an extra 21 wifi transmitters were kitted out in the senate building in early September.

Security concerning the information stored on the app isn’t a big concern, according to Hamilton who said that unlike other Dutch parliamentarians and government employees, senators normally handle documents which are already publicly available.

“I am very pleased with the reception, and many say they consider it a very well-organised way of providing all the necessary information they have to deal with as well as reducing the enormous amount of paper involved.”

Note by Record Storage Systems:  Our document management solution, FileBound, is iPad compatible.  Call Jenny Savage for more information at 704/809-4410.

Reprinted:  US Health and Human Services Website

The Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs will provide incentive payments to eligible professionals, eligible hospitals and critical access hospitals (CAHs) as they adopt, implement, upgrade or demonstrate meaningful use of certified EHR technology.

Registration for the Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Program is now open. Participate early to get the maximum incentive payments!

Attestation for the Medicare EHR Incentive Program is now open.  Visit the Attestation page for more information.

Check on the links below for up-to-date, detailed information about the Electronic Health Record (EHR) Incentive Programs.

• Use the Path to Payment page to find out how to participate in these programs.
• Overview of the Medicare EHR Incentive Program.
• Overview of the Medicaid EHR Incentive Program.
• Calendar of important dates.
• Downloads and related links.

Electronic Health Record (EHR) or Electronic Medical Record (EMR)?

Sometimes people use the terms “Electronic Medical Record” or “EMR” when talking about Electronic Health Record (EHR) technology. Very often an Electronic Medical Record or EMR is just another way to describe an Electronic Health Record or EHR, and both providers and vendors sometimes use the terms interchangeably. For the purposes of the Medicare and Medicaid Incentive Programs, eligible professionals, eligible hospitals and critical access hospitals (CAHs) must use ­certified EHR technology. Certified EHR technology gives assurance to purchasers and other users that an EHR system or module offers the necessary technological capability, functionality, and security to help them meet the meaningful use criteria. Certification also helps providers and patients be confident that the electronic health IT products and systems they use are secure, can maintain data confidentially, and can work with other systems to share information. For more information about which EHR systems and modules are certified for the Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs, please visit http://healthit.hhs.gov

The Medicare EHR Incentive Program 

• The Medicare EHR Incentive Program will provide incentive payments to eligible professionals, eligible hospitals, and CAHs that demonstrate meaningful use of certified EHR technology.
•  Participation can begin as early as 2011.
• Eligible professionals can receive up to $44,000 over five years under the Medicare EHR Incentive Program. There’s an additional incentive for eligible professionals who provide services in a Health Professional Shortage Area (HSPA).
• To get the maximum incentive payment, Medicare eligible professionals must begin participation by 2012.
• Incentive payments for eligible hospitals and CAHs may begin as early as 2011 and are based on a number of factors, beginning with a $2 million base payment.
• Important! For 2015 and later, Medicare eligible professionals, eligible hospitals, and CAHs that do not successfully demonstrate meaningful use will have a payment adjustment in their Medicare reimbursement.
• Note: If you are a Medicare Advantage Plan (like an HMO or PPO), please visit our Medicare Advantage page.

The Medicaid EHR Incentive Program

• The Medicaid EHR Incentive Program will provide incentive payments to eligible professionals, eligible hospitals, and CAHs as they adopt, implement, upgrade, or demonstrate meaningful use of certified EHR technology in their first year of participation and demonstrate meaningful use for up to five remaining participation years.
•  The Medicaid EHR Incentive Program is voluntarily offered by individual states and territories and may begin as early as 2011, depending on the state.
• Eligible professionals can receive up to $63,750 over the six years that they choose to participate in the program.
• Eligible hospital incentive payments may begin as early as 2011, depending on when the state begins its program. The last year a Medicaid eligible hospital may begin the program is 2016. Hospital payments are based on a number of factors, beginning with a $2 million base payment.
• There are no payment adjustments under the Medicaid EHR Incentive Program.

Important Dates

• October 1, 2010 – Reporting year begins for eligible hospitals and CAHs.
• January 1, 2011 – Reporting year begins for eligible professionals.
• January 3, 2011 – Registration for the Medicare EHR Incentive Program begins.
• January 3, 2011 – For Medicaid providers, states may launch their programs if they so choose.
• April 18, 2011 – Attestation for the Medicare EHR Incentive Program begins.
• May 2011 – EHR Incentive Payments expected to begin.
• July 3, 2011 – Last day for eligible hospitals to begin their 90-day reporting period to demonstrate meaningful use for the Medicare EHR Incentive Program.
• September 30, 2011 – Last day of the federal fiscal year. Reporting year ends for eligible hospitals and CAHs.
• October 3, 2011 – Last day for eligible professionals to begin their 90-day reporting period for calendar year 2011 for the Medicare EHR Incentive Program.
• November 30, 2011 – Last day for eligible hospitals and critical access hospitals to register and attest to receive an Incentive Payment for Federal fiscal year (FY) 2011.
• December 31, 2011 – Reporting year ends for eligible professionals.
• February 29, 2012 – Last day for eligible professionals to register and attest to receive an Incentive Payment for calendar year (CY) 2011.

Reprinted from IDM: Image and Data Manager

Are you worried that the message about information and records management is not getting through to your colleagues? Do you spend your time devising strategies to encourage use of the corporate EDRMS but find its falling on deaf ears? Is email management or the lack of it causing sleepless nights? If you answered yes to any of the above, then relax, you’re not alone. An IDM survey of Australian and New Zealand records and information managers has found some common concerns at the top of everybody’s list.

While there are many difficult technical challenges to be overcome in implementing an electronic document and records management system (EDRMS), the survey found Australian and New Zealand organisations finds the major perceived challenge comes from end users resistant to change.

Submissions were received from a wide range of over 250 public and private sector organisations, with many at differing stages of the path to digital records management.

One of Australia largest independent oil and gas companies is in  transition to digital records management with SharePoint and the InfoVision EDRMS. Staff are still printing documents to be retained as records.

“I think the awareness is on the way up. Although Records Awareness Training is mandatory, I suspect that it is seen as a hindrance,” notes the company records manager.

The records manager at one of Australia’s major infrastructure providers for utilities, construction and mining, listed on the stock Exchange with over 1000 staff and $400M annual turnover, is using an email archive for Outlook and has introduced a SharePoint document management system for controlled documents.

“But records management for other types of documents is very much still hard copy”.

Why is records management important to your organisation?One government records manager commented

“The nitty-gritty of RM is only important when it affects senior management’s ability to find data or documents instantly. Compliance only gets attention when it comes to a tick on the CEO’s performance agreement.

For this small state agency, without the funding for an EDRMS rollout, the responsibility rests with the users to follow the agency’s file plan on a shared drive.

“Most users have their digital records fairly well organised on their own computers. Backing up is an ongoing issue. Most users follow the agency’s file plan. However, few users pay heed to preservation requirements.

“Consequently we have had two recent cases of lost email and other data due to HDD failure and no backup.”

Describe your organisation’s records management strategy.Another records manager notes, “Currently, the policy is print & file. Not everyone adheres to that policy. E-documents are stored in business systems which don’t have retention/disposal applied. We’re in transition to an EDRMS, but it’s been moved down the list of competing priorities.

“Most users consider it to be an “after the project” task. By the time the project’s finished, the momentum’s gone and it’s easier just to chuck it all in a box & send it off site. Bunging information into a spreadsheet is seen as easier than using the existing hardcopy RM system.”

Narelle Haken, Records Officer at the Compensation Authorities Staff Division (CASD) of WorkCover NSW, said, “A RM Strategy is required to be pushed and backed from the top (management) to enforce/enable a strategy that is seen as part of the way we work and not enable silo workarounds.”
At a large council running OpenText eDocs as their EDMS, despite attempts to put controls in place around where documents, spreadsheets and emails are saved, “The reality is that the product still has holes that other users have learnt and teach to the new starters straight after our induction,” said an IT Officer.

“Even with every good intention and policy in place, the reality is that it is still a pipe dream. No matter how many times you stress that email is not a database or document management system, the reality is that to the end user their mailbox is their data store. Invest in a good email archiver and budget for lots of disk storage. The concepts are understood within the Records Management and IT sections but getting the message out to the rest of the organisation is the real challenge.”

Colin Thornton is Senior Analyst in the Enterprise Content Management team at Powercor, the utility responsible for delivering electricity to homes and businesses in Melbourne and through central and western Victoria.

The team looks after the systems such as SharePoint (which serves the Corporate Intranet, collaboration Team sites and a Contractor Extranet); OpenText LiveLink for records management and a large-scale drawings management system (Bentley Projectwise).

The team also provides application support for the web content management system of the externally hosted corporate Internet site, serving over 1.2 million Powercor, CitiPower and Wellington Electricity customers.

How does your organisation manage email retention.Powercor is well established with an ECM platform, intranet and collaboration. But general staff are still printing documents to be retained as records.

“At this point the records management policy only allows physical records. We have growing momentum in the business to start considering electronic records, but at this stage the business hasn’t included the requirement to include electronic records in the policy,” said Thornton.

“There are a number of information types, such as technical standards that we deliver to external contractors, that are not considered records. As physical record management begins to expand, more and more people in the business are starting to question what we consider records.”

Printing records also extends to email, which is managed in Microsoft Exchange and Symantec Enterprise Vault. All email is archived permanently to tape, so everything is there to be found if an issue arises in the future, it’s just the discoverability that could be a concern.

“The push from IT is to begin to put more and more current working documents into SharePoint. Once they’re in there they’re quite easily searchable, so it accomplishes our goal of making information easier to find,” said Thornton.

“For many of our organisations here and in Asia physical records management is as important as electronic,” said Graham Pullen, Vice President Asia Pacific at OpenText.

“Being able to find the physical record is just as crucial as discovering it in the electronic repository.
“The number of organisations in transition to digital records management shows people seem to be understanding it’s a logical journey, its accepted now that organisations need the governance and controls around their corporate information, which is a huge move forward from even five years ago.

“Most organisations neither want to destroy everything or keep everything any longer than they have to.
“It is a very important part to make it transparent to the users as modern RM systems do. It is important to discourage the use of personal drives. The ability to automatically populate forms is taking away a lot of the concerns of the end user.”

What is the biggest challenge for records management today?Email is clearly regarded as the major records management challenge. Organisations are adopting different strategies to manage retention in their email application, dedicated email archives and EDRMS systems.

“Email is a big issue,” noted one federal government CIO.

“An Exchange database is not an official RM platform, so staff should be putting emails into TRIM but a lot of times that does not happen.

“This can cause problems if people leave and you need to find out about the basis of decisions they made in the past. It’s not ideal to be looking through Outlook folders for people that are long gone to try to find out what was said by whom.”

“People need to figure out what are the important emails relating to business decisions and filing them appropriately in TRIM. We can make the interfaces as easy as possible but they still have the responsibility to work it out.”

Abie Spies, founder and Managing Director of Engineering Informatics, a product-independent Enterprise Content Management (ECM) consulting company, said, “I don’t know of any organisation that truly have rock-solid email records management, and I don’t think it will change.

“The issues are too big and complex, and the business drivers not compelling enough for most organisations to pay more than lip service to email RM (as opposed to ‘email handling and using’, which most organisations are pretty good at!).

“In any case, the whole phenomenon of ‘email’ probably has a shorter lifespan than we can imagine. 20 years ago it was unknown, and in another 20 it will probably be forgotten. Already we are starting to see a decline in email use as social media takes a bigger share of communication – which is bringing a whole new set of headaches to RM.

“In any business, there are always a lack of time and money to do everything that ‘must’ be done, and different business processes (including RM) compete for available resources. Business spends money and effort where the perceived value is the greatest.

“The fact that most organisations are so lacking in RM, is purely due to the fact that the perceived value is much less than for ‘competing’ business processes. That’s a fact of business life! If RM wants to compete on an equal footing, it can only elevate its stature by providing more perceived business value.

“The big stick of ‘regulatory compliance’ is one way of scaring executives into giving RM higher stature, but in the long run, only real business value will be sustainable; and RM can achieve that by focussing on delivering decision critical information where it is needed, when it is needed, in the format it is needed, and without any surplus noise. Do that effectively, and you’ll get business executives’ attention.”
Staff challenge

What is the size of your organisation?A records manager at a major commercial law firm with offices throughout Australia and  more than 325 staff, noted, “As we progress in the electronic age, encouraging the maintenance of full electronic files becomes more of a challenge as well as helping staff understand the importance and relevance of it.”
“With a growing library of information stored off site it is crucial to be able to locate the right documentation quickly either for external or internal requirements.

“We are encourage use of the corporate EDRMS (Interwoven TeamSite) and discouraging use of network drives or email folders. We have a major challenge to scan our paper archives.
“As a law firm our strategy for maintaining full electronic files is well implemented, but old habits die hard and forming new habits to keep a full electronic file are slow to build. For our business services units there is a less well defined path and more work is required.”

“Moving email to our EDRMS is a bit haphazard and not well managed, and In some cases records management seems to be viewed as a “necessary evil”

The sentiment was echoed by a records manager at a major Australian bank, which is currently in transition to digital records management with OpenText ECM, although staff are still printing documents to be retained as records.

“Uninterested end users are a big challenge,” she said.

A records manager at a Victorian local council with more than 500 users said, “Emails form a large part of business decisions and need to be appropriately captured.

“We are progressively encouraging staff to use ‘drag n drop’ function to move emails to a network drive. Gradually we are reducing archive (pst) files as these can be poorly managed and can hold a large portion of corporate data.”

“We are proactively working with business units in developing SharePoint sites. In the future it is hoped to purchase RecordPoint which therefore makes the system VERS compliant & for small business is an ideal, cheaper alternative than purchasing & implementing large ECM systems. “

Forrester Research has named RecordPoint as one of six technology partners that Microsoft perceives to be important in supplementing the enterprise records management capabilities within SharePoint 2010. RecordPoint was highlighted by Forrester in particular as providing support for Australian, New Zealand and European regulatory requirements.

“However like any organisation it is more than just new systems it is a matter of educating staff and getting the ‘buy in’ option in order for the business to move forward,” said this council records manager.
Council staff are still printing documents to be retained as records and an email archive is used.

“Records management assists staff with FOI/RFI requests, helps to make formation discovery easier & more reliable, significantly assists with customer service enquiries and more importantly ensures that the organisation is compliant with relevant legislative requirements & regulations.

“The strategy being implemented I believe is working well across the organisation. It is more of an education process in reminding staff of their responsibilities and obligations when handling or creating electronic data. I think staff understand them well it is just getting them to implement or abide by policies which is sometimes frustrating.”

Robert Fraser of industry consultants Trinogy Systems, said, “email continues to be the ‘problem looking for a solution’ in document management terms. I get the sense that records departments and end-user have still not connected in terms of purpose of meeting corporate and regulatory obligations – records folk still lean to records based products which end-users find difficult and cumbersome.

“End-users obviously still don’t understand why they need to use an EDRMS – much more needs to be done here by vendors, associations, media, government – as information awareness increases due to Web 2.0, etc. the general person will be demanding easier access to ‘documents’ and corporate information.

“In my view, organisations that have managed to make the EDRMS their Windows filing system, i.e. deny access to local and network drives and enforce storing/retrieval of all corporate ‘documents (emails, word, etc) are the ones that have the best chance of success in meeting records sentencing/disposal, document retrieval and best-practice for managing the explosion of documents – but these can be counted on one hand.”

A difficult combination

Mergers and growth by acquisition can often present challenges to settling on a singular EDRMS strategy. The WA Department of Environment and Conservation faces a difficult task merging the divergent backgrounds of two separate departments, one that was using TRIM for managing paper archives while the other had started on the road to electronic document and records management with Objective.

“We have Outlook archiving but we are pushing people to save directly into Objective from inside their email, said Bronwyn Cropley, a Project Officer in Corporate Information Services.

“People are really aware that they are working in a group and the group needs to see what they are working on.

“People are very good at recordkeeping on their shared drive within their internal department or office, we need to convince them they can do as good a job inside Objective.

Currently we only have a 50% takeup of EDM in areas that use Objective. Other people will avoid it or just use the shared drive.”

Sean Guillemot, Partner Manager (ANZ) for Perceptive Software said, “The uptake of Records Management in corporate Australia is generally not as advanced as in the U.S., which is driven by increased e-Discovery needs and stronger governance, such as the FRCP (Federal Rules of Civil Procedure).

“Many ECM companies have traditionally imposed their will on their customers, forcing them to adopt yet another User Interface and endure heavy Integration requirements. The ECM game is changing and becoming more versatile.  Providing content services within the context of the customers’ applications is what it’s all about.”

Clive Gold, Marketing CTO for EMC Corporation Australia and New Zealand, was surprised to see that most organisations responding to the IDM survey still identify the big problem is still finding information.
“It does seem like a bit of a catch-22, as the users don’t want to be involved in classifying information which would help them find it later.

“It is also a worry that so many organisations still believe that printing is the way to manage electronic data.  A recent IDC study suggests that if all the digital data created this year was put onto iPads, there would be enough devices to build the Great Wall of China twice.
“It is interesting that respondents are most worried about email, in a time where the world is moving to more instant and collaborative ‘social media’ mechanisms and these did not seem to show up in this survey,” said Gold.

Remember all that talk about the paperless office? It’s a tough thing to achieve when you’re a credit-card bank, apparently.

A new article in American Banker Magazine  (shown below) reveals that, even as banks wheedle their customers to go “paperless” with their statements, paper use (and the associated costs) have risen. Some people, it seems, don’t want to let go of the paper — many opt for both e-mail and paper statements.

The banks (in part) blame the avalanche of regulations for the small-type blizzard, but it’s also clearly the banks’ own marketing efforts that are behind it.

Take Chase Card Services, based here in Wilmington. Overall, JPMorgan Chase’s paper consumption rose 55 percent last year, and now stands at 114,000 tons, despite eliminating 203 million paper staments, the article says.

“The main driver for the rise is Chase Card Services’ significant increase of direct mail marketing in 2010,” a Chase report concludes. “This was a function of the economic recovery and also was a departure from the uncharacteristically low volumes of 2009.”

And guess where most of those credit-card offers probably ended up?

Banks Use More Paper Despite E-Statements’ Popularity

By Jeremy Quittner

AUG 12, 2011

Banks have struggled for years to get their customers to accept paperless account statements. But even among those who have succeeded in such efforts, paper use has risen.

The surge in paper use stems from changes in the regulatory environment and a boost in marketing efforts following years of pull-back that started with the 2008 financial crisis, bankers say.

“Paper is a key resource that a bank uses, and it has been very important to us for the last couple of years from an environmental stewardship and cost perspective to focus on paper reduction,” says Lisa O’Brien, senior vice president and director of environmental affairs for U.S. Bancorp. “But there are other factors, like regulatory challenges that require more customer communications, and which make statement lengths longer.”

U.S. Bank has an e-statement penetration rate for deposit account customers between 35% and 40%, compared to an average around 24% for banks of its size, O’Brien says. Fewer than half of its statements are sent by mail today.

Many customers are so-called double-dippers — they consent to getting electronic statements, but don’t ever switch off paper.

“Banks have successfully done the hard work of getting a lot of people to get electronic statements, but they have not been able to get that same group to let go of paper,” says James Van Dyke, founder and principal of Javelin Strategy and Research.

About a third of JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s customers fall into this category, Van Dyke says, the highest percentage of the top U.S. banks.

JPMorgan Chase said in an April 2011 report that its paper consumption increased 55% last year, to more than 114,000 tons, even though the bank eliminated 203 million paper statements for retail and credit card customers.

“Paper use remains a material impact of our banking operations despite advances in moving many processes and products from paper to electronic form,” its report said. “The main driver for the rise is Chase Card Services’ significant increase of direct mail marketing in 2010. This was a function of the economic recovery and also was a departure from the uncharacteristically low volumes of 2009.”

The suppression of paper statements alone can earn banks about 50 cents per customer per month, Van Dyke says.

Deutsche Bank reported a 7% increase of paper over the same period, to 4,000 tons, despite its goal of reducing paper use by 15% by the end of 2011. And HSBC Holdings PLC reported a doubling of paper consumption in the U.S., driven by increased correspondence with consumers necessitated by new regulatory demands, the bank said in its 2010 report. It did not say how much paper it used.

(Neither Deutsche Bank nor HSBC responded by deadline to requests for an interview from American Banker.)

Banks and other businesses send nearly 50 billion pieces of mail to customers annually, according to the United States Postal Service, yet various estimates place total paperless adoption at 15% or less.

Paper consumption for some of the top 10 global banks has risen between 50% and 100%, according to the New York environmental consultancy Green Research.

“A big reason why customers are concerned about giving up paper has been the amount of history they have had access to online,” says Ravi Acharya, JPMorgan Chase’s senior vice president of online and mobile products and payments. Adoption increased dramatically about five years ago when JPMorgan Chase increased the number of statements it offers online to a seven-year history, up from a six-month history, Acharya says.

Banks can encourage their customers to turn off paper through better education and rewards offers, says PayItGreen, a consortium of 50 financial institutions devoted to reducing paper consumption managed by Nacha, the electronic payments association. Banks can also require customers to opt out of using e-statements, rather than require them to opt in.

“Almost 50% of consumers would be comfortable having a bank shut off paper once they are enrolled, but the opt out option is not something universally out there as policy,” says Samantha Carrier, senior director of advanced payment solutions for PayItGreen.

O’Brien says that U.S. Bank tries to make it as simple as possible for its customers to turn off paper. When they sign up for online banking, they are guided to a screen that says the bank will convert their statements to electronic versions, unless the customer wishes to opt out.

It also includes messages on paper statements about the environmental impact of paper. A section of U.S. Bank’s website explains ways customers can reduce paper consumption.

Customers are also likely to respond well to incentives to shut off paper, Van Dyke says. Nearly 40% of consumers polled in a March survey say they would shut off paper if given better rates, discounted fees and other offers.

A Citigroup Inc. spokesman says incentives have varying levels of success with the different segments of its market. Citi, which has a 25% penetration rate for electronic statements with its credit card customers and which suppressed more than 20 million statements for these accounts in May, says it offers to plant trees for customers that care about the environment. For those that don’t, it offers rewards from its Thank You program.

“We tailor the marketing to the market,” the spokesman says. “Different tactics resonate with different consumers.”

Wells Fargo & Co. says it is attempting to use electronic methods of communication to meet regulators’ requirements for customer contact.

“In this regulatory environment, banks are communicating to their customers more than ever, however we are doing so in a more environmentally-conscious and sustainable way,” says Mary Wenzel, director of Wells Fargo Environmental Affairs, in an email.