In the Age of the Cloud, Records Management Still Matters

Businesses are embracing cloud storage solutions at an increasingly rapid pace. Hard to blame them, considering all the benefits: security, cost and time savings, scalability, and disaster recovery, to name just four.

But hold on

As reported in The Wall Street Journal’s “Risk & Compliance Journal” in December of 2014, “A survey of 1,200 IT departments from companies around the world by cloud monitoring vendor ScienceLogic found 81% saying they use public clouds—but 40% don’t know what information they are storing in the cloud.” It’s like companies are using the cloud as a digital “to be filed” basket. In other words, they’re bringing all their documents and records together in one secure place (which is good), but they’re not organizing them (which is NOT good).

“Records storage” is not “records management.”

You know the drill: No matter how much space you have in your home, warehouse, office—even on your desk—you’re probably going to fill it with stuff because you can. It’s human nature! It’s the same way with cloud storage. It’s super-easy to just upload everything. Which is all well and good until you start accounting for real records management risk factors.

Records management technology has changed. The rules haven’t.

It doesn’t matter whether you store information in a closet, in the cloud or offsite with a records management company. Your obligations for records management compliance are the same. The specifics may vary depending on the type of business you’re in, but they fall into three categories:

1. Protection and preservation of your business records.

Aside from internal audit needs, most businesses must manage information in compliance with one or more of the following regulations or regulatory bodies:
  • HIPAA/HITECH
  • FACTA
  • SOX
  • GLB
  • SEC

2. A reliable audit trail for your records.

Who touched which documents and when? With effective records management, the answers are at your fingertips.

3. Dependable retrieval and recovery capability.

A lynchpin of your records management practices, whether for your regular business operations or in a disaster recovery situation.

Build your records management system on the records lifecycle.

Whether you’ve migrated your records to the cloud or you’re still “earthbound,” The Records Lifecycle is a solid foundation for your records management best practices. It allows your company to keep pace with the daily flood of information and frames a system that helps you meet the demands outlined above.

Introducing online records storage.

Now you can have the best of everything—physical document storage, fully integrated records management and convenient digital access—with online records storage.
  • Access any stored document online, on any computer or device.
  • Cost-effective, with no hardware or software to purchase upfront.
  • Fully compliant with HIPAA, and other stringent regulations.
  • Plus, you can assign permissions that allow only select individuals to access your documents.

The records management bottom line: Compliance, cost containment and peace of mind.

We’ll say it again: “Records storage” is not the same thing as “records management.” To get the most from cloud capabilities and minimize your risk exposure, you are responsible for managing the information you store there in a consistent, constant and vigilant manner.

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