As a Record Manager you have to think not only about hard copy storage and destruction but about items that stored daily on your servers – your computers and yes now your phones. Technological innovation, tighter regulation, and a variety of new content channels have all increased the demands placed on electronic archives. Today, archives must address a range of challenges that go beyond its traditional function as a storage facility for email. Archives must serve multiple purposes across all enterprise content, which includes deriving value from information, automating business processes and facilitating compliance and eDiscovery. Therefore, archiving today requires advanced strategy and technology to help you be intelligent about how you manage your enterprise content.

There are many issues that The File Room has to take into consideration as they help companies develop and implement a very specific archiving policies and practices, including:

• Handling all document types and formats, including email, rich media and social media
• Auto classification
• Retention Management and Content disposition
• Corporate governance and Legal mandates (federal/state/local laws and industry regulations)
• Legal holds
• The impact of the Cloud
• End user access and Mobility

These are just a few elements that face all record managers today, issues that we did not have to face 10 years ago or even 5 years ago for that matter. So the questions are: have your reviewed your current policies? Do have a written policy? Are you even following and enforcing that policy? These are critical questions that must asked and answered in the world we live in today so that you remain ready.

Many organizations assume they will never experience a disaster, so they never develop a strategy for preventing or responding to one. Even if they do have a formal disaster response plan, chances are it does not address the need to protect one of their most valuable assets: their records. A strong disaster management plan will help you avoid or manage events that can threaten, damage, or destroy your records. There are many articles and companies such as The File Room that provides guidance on developing a strategy for managing a records disaster and describes how to integrate that strategy into a larger, organization-wide disaster management plan and your ongoing records management program.

Records consist of information recorded on paper, film, electronic, and other media that an organization creates and receives in the regular course of its official business. A records disaster is a sudden, unexpected event that significantly damages or destroys records or prevents access to the information they contain. A records disaster can deprive you of the information you need to resume normal operations. In private industry, a loss of information can cause businesses to fail. In any organization, it can lead to staff frustration and decreased productivity, impair services to citizens, deprive you of evidence needed in court, and make it impossible to document your revenue and assets. By extension, it can cause your employees to lose confidence in your ability to do your job and protect their interests which equates to their jobs. In many ways, a records disaster can ultimately lead to a public relations nightmare, loss of income and jobs.

Managing records disasters effectively can

• guarantee a secure environment for ongoing records storage and maintenance
• ensure the physical safety of employees who regularly retrieve, use, and manage your organization’s records
• identify and protect records vital to your operations
• identify and protect your archival records
• provide a framework for responding safely and efficiently to disasters when they do occur
• allow you to resume your work as soon as possible after a disaster

To manage records disasters, you must first develop a formal, written plan that specifically addresses those events that could potentially damage or destroy your records. A good disaster management plan will include strategies for

• preventing potential disasters by identifying your most valuable records and risks to those records
• responding directly to disasters if they do occur
• continuing normal business operations after an emergency has passed
• periodically reviewing and adapting your plan to reflect current conditions
• storing documents off site at a reputable record management company – no mini storages

Each of these four activities I will discuss in detail over time to ensure that our readers can obtain good information and build their plan in the event of a disaster for remember it is not if but when.

There are several online sources that contain information on both disaster management planning and recovery. Most State Archives are also available as a resource for providing direct technical assistance and advice on how to prepare a disaster management plan. Funding for disaster recovery planning, including money to hire a consultant and purchase planning software, are in most cases available to local governments through the Local Government Records Management Improvement Fund (LGRMIF), as are grants to support many of the facility enhancements necessary to protect your records. Local governments can also apply for emergency funding to pay for disaster recovery efforts related to records. For further information about any of these services and grants, contact your State Archives’ regional advisory officer (RAO), Government Records Services or The File Room in Saint Louis, MO for instructions and assistance.