As anyone who runs a company will tell you, managing the volume of information organizations generate is a challenge. Every business creates physical and electronic documents. Some of those documents are key to the business’s operations and regulatory compliance, and some are ephemeral.
All of it consumes physical or digital space, and businesses need to define their document storage requirements and record management system – what they should keep and where, what they should discard, when they should discard it, and the security and privacy implications of storing a particular document.
Two processes that help businesses to manage information are document storage and records management. They accomplish distinct objectives, so let’s explore the differences between them.
What is Document Storage?
Document storage refers to the processes, systems, and services that facilitate the secure storage of business documents. Business information has to be stored, whether in digital or physical form.
Document management companies that offer document storage services provide private, confidential, and cost-effective storage while allowing low-friction access to authorized users.
Document storage ranges from simple on-premises filing to sophisticated scanning and digital systems, but you can expect the best document management companies to provide:
- A secure off-site facility to store physical and digital documents.
- Document scanning and digital delivery.
- Fast and accurate physical document retrieval.
- A software portal for managing and monitoring document access.
- Secure document disposal.
Document management companies with storage services empower businesses to move documents off-site and free up expensive office space. Additionally, they help employees to find and access the documents they need when they need them.
What is Records Management?
Businesses store many different types of information, but only a subset of that information impacts regulatory compliance and other legal obligations. Regulatory frameworks for many industries impose document storage requirements that call for businesses to keep documents that provide a complete history of transactions and other operations.
Documents of this type are usually referred to as records, and they must be stored, retained, and disposed of in compliance with strict rules.
For example, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) requires covered entities to retain relevant documents for six years from the day they were created. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act document storage requirements expect that financial auditing and review documents are retained for seven years. Other standards and regulatory frameworks have similar—but not identical—requirements.
Document management companies providing records management services help businesses to store, manage, and destroy records in compliance with relevant regulations.
Beyond Storage – A Comprehensive Information Management Checklist
Organizations of all kinds and sizes are finding themselves faced with an array of information management challenges. Some of these challenges, like the transformation of information technologies and the growth of data sets, have remained relatively unchanged for years.
How Does Records Information Management Work?
Records must be managed throughout the information lifecycle, from creation and capture to destruction. Additionally, there are often chain-of-custody records information management requirements that mean businesses must be able to track how the record was managed throughout its life. In fact, these audit trails are often also considered records.
Perhaps most importantly, different types of records have different retention rules, which may change over time as the regulatory environment evolves.
Records information management services provide many of the same features as the document storage services described above, including secure storage, access controls, and document search and retrieval. But they also include a range of capabilities that facilitate regulatory compliance, including chain-of-custody reports and secure, defensible record destruction in line with regulatory requirements.
Records Information Management: Five Key Features of a Records Management System
To summarize, let’s look at five key features of record management systems.
- Offsite Records Management Storage — Records are stored in a secure offsite location while remaining accessible when they are required. Physical and digital records are cataloged and categorized so that they can be retrieved quickly and easily.
- Records management software — The software allows businesses to search for records, add new records, and create reports to explore which records are stored and how they are used.
- Compliance management — Records are stored and disposed of in compliance with relevant regulations. Software and processes are continuously updated as regulatory requirements change, reducing the compliance burden on businesses.
- Secure chain of custody — Businesses have complete visibility into the location and status of their records at all times.
- Secure destruction — When they reach the end of their lifecycle, records are destroyed in a safe and compliant manner, whether by shredding or destruction of storage devices.
To learn more about how Access’s document, information, and records information management services help businesses to reduce costs while easing the burden of compliance, contact an information and records management specialist today.
