Scope: Records administration is an essential requirement to comply with laws, manage risks of potential litigation and develop a business organization’s operational excellence. Records management means the administration of business records from cradle (creation) to grave (destruction), across all types of records, all formats, all software-support, all locations where records are accessed and stored. Outsourcing of records management can involve any one or more elements of the life-cycle of records. The life cycle includes creation, labeling, analysis for commercial use, analysis for legal compliance, storage (“archiving”), backup, retrieval, modification and version control, redaction for litigation disclosure, access controls (for enabling a “need to know” limitation on accessing proprietary information) and destruction.
Technical Requirements: Records management have converted from paper-based document-management to electronic records management. While few enterprises operate a totally paper-less office, most organizations are cognizant of the benefits (and risks) of digital records. Records management involves triage of records according to accessibility requirements, typically with off-site archiving of records that do not require storage in expensive real estate at the corporate offices. Physical requirements include accessibility of the location, communications channels between records owners and records managers, shelving layouts, fire-resistant building not in a zone of flammable structures, lighting for access, ventilation and temperature controls, structural supports for floor load, security and disaster precautions and periodic inspections of all infrastructures for damage. Some warehouses can be automated, giving greater access and speed for delivery.
Benefits: Depending on the volume and character of records, in-house records centers may be as efficient and cost-effective as outsourced records centers. As with any outsourcing, comparisons should include a valuation on the benefits of internal vs. external controls, the use of marginal space at company centers that would otherwise be fixed costs and the frequency of handling for physical records. Increasingly, service providers are allying with software developers and legal-process outsourcing (“LPO”) service providers to deliver an integrated “document production” and litigation support service, so there may be advantages for outsourcing in such conditions. Both in-sourced and outsourced records centers can also provide document destruction services.