The introduction of desktop computing has had a significant impact on the way we work – can anyone remember the “state of the art” golf ball type writers – gone forever! Activities which were once governed by physical processes and the transmission of paper, which in some instances took several days or even weeks, have been replaced by technology that makes almost everything we do instant or extremely quick.  However, one negative outcome of this technological revolution has been a massive increase in the volume of information and electronic documents that we have to deal with every day.

Depending on whose statistics you believe, the number of electronic messages (E-mails) sent every day worldwide has increased from around 57 billion in 2003 to over 170 billion in 2006 and I’m sure we all think a lot of those end up in our own inbox!  Despite the statistics and keeping in mind that E-mail is only one form of digital document, one thing is for sure, we now have a lot more digitally born information and documents to manage than we used to.

Thankfully a small number of companies with great foresight have seen value in developing electronic systems that provide the capability to at least begin the task of effectively capturing and managing the vast number of official (and unofficial if you choose) documents as well as official records.  Typically these software solutions are referred to as Electronic Document and Records Management Systems (eDRMS) or Content Management Systems (CMS) – but keep in mind that there are many variations.

The early versions of these systems provided little more than electronic indexes and correspondence registers.  Today’s software solutions have evolved to the point where they contain so much functionality that it can take anywhere up to 2 weeks for a skilled records management practitioner to become competent in their administration and use.

In addition to being able to still record and manage paper based records, these software solutions are now required to, amongst other things:

• Seamlessly interface with a vast array of desktop products and e-mail systems;
• Interface with Geographic and other Information Systems;
• Provide Workflow engines with user friendly graphical front ends;
• Provide import and export routines for a variety of data e.g. Business Classification Schemes (BCS);
• Provide import routines and subsequent linking and management routines for Retention / Disposal Schedules;
• Provide wizards for end user formatting of simple and/or complex reporting;
• Provide complex and highly flexible security features;
• Provide document and file tracking capability including barcode printing, reading and census functions; and
• Provide Location / Contact management for people and places. Etc.

The above is only a very small list of the functionally rich software solutions currently on the market.

At Records Solutions we are product independent but the breadth of our consulting services means that we have extensive experience in guiding clients in the selection, configuration and implementation of these systems to meet their unique business requirements.

Click on the link to download a free copy of our Guideline on Implementing an Electronic Document & Records Management System (eDRMS).

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