ISO 15489

Most companies pay little attention to records management and take the stance of preserving everything as long as possible until it becomes a storage nightmare. Once this occurs it becomes very difficult to sift out what must be retained, from what doesn't or even legally cannot be retained.

The Data Protection Act, Sarbanes Oxley and Freedom of Information Acts have all been major drivers in this area in focusing senior executives attention increasingly on the issues of records management. What was previously just an administrative overhead has now become a compliance necessity.

Some examples of document records which legally MUST be managed include:

• Financial records
• Personnel records
• Medical records
• Public notices
• Test certificates
• Insurance records

Records which are added to FileStore automatically have additional metadata fields added which hold information necessary for compliance with the recent ISO15489 standard for records management. In conjunction with effective internal company procedures the software can greatly aid compliance and reduce subsequent audit costs.

DCS also offer consultancy services to help companies develop their own procedures with a view to compliance with ISO15489 and we can also carry out external independent audits, once the procedures are in place, to certify compliance.

Application areas (and retention legislation which affects them) which may benefit from records management:

• HR file management (Data Protection Act)
• Company records (Companies House)
• Accounts departments (HM Customs & IR)
• Bank information (FSA and 'Anti-money laundering')
• US quoted companies (Sarbanes Oxley)
• Local government (Freedom of Information Act)

DCS also produce a legal admissibility compliance module which aids compliance with BS BIP0008 which is generally implemented in conjunction with the records management module. Information on this is covered in a separate brochure.

What benefits does FileStores records management module give me?:

• Aids corporate compliance with ISO15489
• Reduces risk of prosecution under Data Protection Act legislation
• Reduces costs of storing obsolete information
• Matched consultancy services make implementation of procedures quick and simple

Contact DCS on 01753 616720 for further information.