For the last couple of years of my professional life, i have been involved with a records retention project. Although i'm not a records professional -- I'm an IT guy -- I have made some observations that I'd like to share over a set of blogs.
One major observation is that these efforts are as much or more process and policy efforts as they are technical efforts. Without development of policy and procedure there is no chance that the technical aspects of the effort will succeed. A records retention effort is a program not a project. That is it is something which is ongoing, not something which is done once and then is over. Records retention requires a long-term commitment on the part of the enterprise. It has to become part of the corporate culture and an integral part of the business. It has to be something that everyone does as part of their every day routine, not something that they do over there.
Records retention efforts also require a major commitment of resources. They need to be supported from the top level of corporate management and require their own committed resources. Record retention programs require continual care and feeding. They are definitely NOT "plug in technology and leave it" efforts.
I'll expand on these thoughts over a number of subsequent blogs. Again, I'm not a records expert, just an observant IT guy who's seen some of the pitfalls.
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