How digital records management can help your organization.

If your business relies on large amounts of paperwork, then you probably need an electronic records management (ERM) system. Rather than storing your important documents in boxes, binders, or filing cabinets, ERM organizes digital files into access-controlled folders, either on local servers or in the cloud. Electronic records are both faster and easier to access than their physical counterparts, which means happier customers and more productive employees. Going electronic also helps safeguard your valuable information, as digital files are harder to damage or lose when supported by appropriate backup security, and retention policies.

To implement ERM at your business, you’ll need a high-quality scanner, a powerful piece of scanning software, and a solid digitization strategy. This guide covers the general benefits of ERM, as well as some of the specific tools you can use in a corporate setting. With some helpful definitions and best practices on your side, you can replace your outdated physical storage systems with a comprehensive digital library.

What is electronic records management?

Electronic records management (ERM) refers to a systematic process of creating, storing, sharing, protecting, and eventually deleting important digital files. This approach ensures that electronic records are organized, secure, accessible, and compliant with legal and regulatory standards. Effective ERM improves efficiency, reduces risk, and supports accountability in both public and private organizations. Digitization, the process of converting physical paperwork into digital files, is a foundational step for most ERM strategies.

What is corporate records management?

Corporate records management refers to the systems that enterprises use to create, store, share, and safeguard their documents. While records management best practices are generally the same for both small and large companies, corporations should pay special attention to automated document creation and file organization, both of which reduce the risk of widespread human error.

Benefits of electronic records management systems

In general, ERM systems make documents more accessible for both in-person and remote workers, leading to faster, more efficient workflows overall. As such, they help companies save both time and money while making life easier for employees.

Some more specific ERM benefits include:

• Reduced storage space: A filing cabinet might require up to 17 square feet of office space. By shifting your record storage into the cloud or digital on-premises archives, you free up all that square footage for more desks, conference rooms, and offices.
• Easier organization: Maintaining a physical organization schema requires time and effort. Digital documents are far less tedious to store, organize, and retrieve than paper ones, cutting down on time spent maintaining proper organization and scouring cabinets for crucial bits of information.
• Protection from disaster: Natural disasters such as fire and flood can destroy crucial paper documents. Even simple exposure to light or high levels of humidity can cause these records to degrade over time. Digital documents are much harder to destroy, especially if they’re in off-site cloud servers.
• Remote sharing: ERM helps employees get the information they need to do their work as quickly as possible. Digital sharing is even more important for distributed teams. Sending a digital document to a remote worker takes just a few clicks, making it much faster than mailing or faxing. Multiple workers can even collaborate on the same file.
• Expedited information lookup: Digital documents make it easy to find relevant information in just a few seconds using powerful text and tag searches. Employees can work more efficiently, pulling only the information they need precisely when they need it.
• Informed decision-making: ERM provides quick and easy access to up-to-date records, giving leaders the information they need to make smart, data-driven decisions. Digital files are also easier to analyze in bulk, as computer algorithms can do most of the rote work.
• Enhanced security: With ERM systems, administrators can implement access controls, individual user passwords, and encryption to prevent unwanted access by users outside the organization. They can also minimize damage in the event of a data breach by locking out attackers in real-time.
• System backups: Every time a paper record is removed from its place in the filing system, it runs the risk of being lost. Records can also be destroyed by disasters. While physical copies lessen these risks, they introduce their own logistical hurdles. Digital files are immune to both problems thanks to search functionality, nearly limitless storage space, and the ease of creating backups. This ensures that even in the event of data loss, no important data vanishes.
• Regulatory compliance: Compliance requirements vary by location, industry, and the type of documents you store. ERM helps minimize the risk of potential fines and other adverse legal ramifications through access controls, encryption, and document life cycle automation.
• Cost savings: With ERM systems, workers spend less time searching through files and more time doing the specialized parts of their jobs. As employees use their time more efficiently, businesses can save money overall.

What is the typical document life cycle?

Part of the reason why ERM exists is to handle document life cycles in a consistent, auditable way. A document life cycle consists of:

1. Creation: Records and documents are created at the beginning of a project or when a new customer, client, or patient is added to the system.
2. Digitization: Workers scan documents and save digital copies on company networks. Scanning software with OCR features can digitize and index text.
3. Storage: Records are secured on physical drives and files, network storage, or the cloud.
4. Use/Retrieval: Employees and customers will access documents for reference, to make updates, or to collaborate on larger projects.
5. Archival/Disposal: Old documents are either placed in long-term storage (on- or off-site) or shredded, depending on future need or legal requirements.

How to choose an electronic records management system

While every organization will have its own needs and requirements, there are several crucial features every business should look for when implementing a records management system.

1. Compliance and security: For businesses in healthcare, finance, and other regulated fields, the way you store and access records has to comply with legal standards. Even if your business doesn’t have compliance requirements, data security should be a major priority.
2. Centralized file storage: Storing records within a single, centralized location makes searching and accessing records fast and easy. It also helps to ensure a single source of truth for important customer or client records.
3. Document capture and indexing: Optical character recognition (OCR) can help records management systems automatically parse information from scanned documents and sort files by relevant metadata.
4. Version control and audit trails: If multiple people require access to the same records, version control supports organizations by tracking who made changes and when for full accountability.

Records management strategy best practices

Your exact records management strategy will depend on what your business does, how many people you employ, which files you need most frequently, and similar considerations. However, a few records management best practices will apply to almost every approach:

• Standardize your workflows: First, determine the processes for creating, uploading, and storing digital data. Train your employees on these processes so everyone is on the same page. This ensures that files are where they’re supposed to be, making it easier to retrieve them later.
• Create an information hierarchy: You might have thousands of gigabytes’ worth of files in your network, and you need to be able to find exactly what you’re looking for at a moment’s notice. Your strategy must include an information hierarchy that determines how each file should be labeled and tagged. Whenever possible, use metadata to further refine your classification system.
• Enforce strict permissions: Ensure that records can’t be accessed without valid credentials. The more sensitive the data, the more stringent the security measures should be. Your employees should be required to re-enter and change their login credentials often. They should also employ multi-factor authentication (MFA).
• Perform regular compliance audits: Whether it’s HIPAA, GDPR, PCI, or any other highly regulated standard, compliance is never a one-and-done procedure. Governing bodies may update these standards from time to time, so regular audits can help organizations maintain compliance programs and identify potential gaps. Your IT experts should also regularly test data security measures to make sure they’re working as intended.
• Invest in the right equipment: To digitize your existing records, you’ll need a document scanner and scanning software. Prioritize speed and accuracy for scanners, as well as the ability to scan many documents at a time without manual input. Choose a piece of software with OCR technology, which recognizes the words on the page and saves them as searchable text. Some scanning software can automatically add metadata to your digital files for easier categorization.

Records management vs. document management

As you research records management, you may come across a similar term: document management. The two technologies are closely related, but they’re not exactly the same.

Records management deals with how your company manages and stores files in the long term. Considerations include:

• Where to archive completed files
• How long to store records
• Who can access which records
• Your strategy for creating backups

Document management refers to how your business creates and edits active files. You’ll need to think about:

• Where to create new files
• Indexing information from scanned documents
• How coworkers can collaborate on projects
• Naming conventions for different versions

As long as you have a system for document intake and storage, you don’t need to worry too much about the fine differences between records management and document management. Just be aware that the terms aren’t 100% interchangeable.

Our recommendation: RICOH fi-8170

To create an effective electronic records management system, the first thing you’ll need is a scanner to digitize your physical documents. The RICOH fi-8170 is a powerful and versatile option, featuring scanning speeds of up to 70 double-sided pages per minute. A 100-sheet automatic document feeder (ADF) keeps papers flowing quickly, while multi-feed detection lets you scan documents of different sizes in a single batch. The fi-8170 should also fit easily in most offices, measuring 11.8 x 6.7 x 6.4 inches and weighing 8.8 pounds. Since the device is compatible with the PaperStream Capture software, you’ll get accurate OCR and metadata tagging features as well.

Check out our full line of RICOH fi Series scanners to find an option that matches your company’s workflows.

Note: Information and external links are provided for your convenience and for educational purposes only, and shall not be construed, or relied upon, as legal or financial advice. PFU America, Inc. makes no representations about the contents, features, or specifications on such third-party sites, software, and/or offerings (collectively “Third-Party Offerings”) and shall not be responsible for any loss or damage that may arise from your use of such Third-Party Offerings. Please consult with a licensed professional regarding your specific situation as regulations may be subject to change.