Do you need a digital archiving policy?
Archiving forms part of an overall records management strategy. Archiving generally refers to the storage of inactive and historical information. Records Archiving is storing and managing records for extended periods of time. In most businesses there will always be a crossover of records that are still in use but over time become less active.
You want to choose a digital archiving solution that is:
- Seamless – can manage both electronic records and 3D records
- Compliant – meets national and local laws, industry policies and protocols
- User friendly – easy to set up and quick to learn
- Nimble – has speedy and adaptable search functions that are calibrated to user needs
- Flexible – allows cloud or server setup, automated workflow, file sharing and collaboration
- Secure – robust permission levels to keep content safe
- Praised – by staff for making their work day better
7 key points for creating a compliant digital archiving policy
The best place to start is with forming a compliant archiving policy for your business. Seven key points to consider are:
1. Records life-cycle
A record is any type of content that documents a business transaction. Consider the overall life span of a record – from creation, to use, to archiving, to disposal. A record may stand alone as a single document or be made up of several documents.
2. Type of document
Make a list of all the hard-copy and digital records your business creates in day-to-day processes, and what occurs monthly, quarterly and annually. Consider one off events such as products launches, projects and celebrations that generate records you will want to resource and store.
3. Laws regarding retention
The type of document will determine the length of time you need to store it for, depending on State and Federal laws. Read our Document Storage Guideline for indicative storage times: http://www.info-organiser.com.au/info-organiser-document-storage-guideline/
4. Security levels – who needs to access records?
Take the list of the records your business creates and match it to which staff require access to the record. Determine if access is required for limited time only, is it view-only, or other security level protocols.
5. Backup Protocols
A Digital Records Policy needs to include a backup protocol tailored to your business needs. Include how many times a day backup is required, offsite backup procedure, and regular testing policy – including the protocol to restore from backup.
6. Disaster Recovery Policy
Disaster Recovery considers rare events such as electrical failure, extreme weather events, virus and hacking threats, server failure and file corruption. Your business needs to ensure your IT provider has created a policy that covers off all these areas and is linked to your backup protocols.
7. Records destruction
The software you select to manage your digital archives needs to have a records destruction date feature. The feature can be set to automate about-to-expire digital documents for approval to pre-set staff members who have permission to approve destruction. Ensure that the system can also manage the timeline for destruction of non-digital records.
Info-Organiser DMS is a VERS certified records management solution designed for small to medium businesses and enterprise departments. Info-Organiser can easily manage all your digital archiving needs and store your records in a secure and searchable format.
Protect your Info by Organising an online demo of these records management features today.