As the year draws to a close, many organizations are finalizing plans to improve their records management programs for 2014. According to Canon Business Process Services, a leading provider of managed services and technology, performing a records needs assessment is an untapped opportunity for many companies to realize benefits such as reducing the risk of non-compliance with industry regulations and improving their litigation preparedness.
According to a research report issued by Canon, “On the Record: Is Your Organization's Records Management Program Providing High Value or High Risk?,” many enterprises have not conducted a records needs assessment, which can uncover opportunities to close gaps between a program's current state and desired future state. Fifty two percent of respondents indicated that their organization either has not conducted a needs assessment (38%) or they don't know (14%).
Why Assessment is Critical
Canon points out that without a records assessment, organizations face significant challenges. These include not knowing if employees can efficiently retrieve information and not being able to confirm if their records operation is compliant with applicable laws and the company's own recordkeeping policies. Additionally, it is difficult for organizations that have not completed an assessment to identify measurable program goals based on business needs and to identify detailed recommendations for improving their current program.
To help companies overcome these and other obstacles, Canon recommends initiating assessments—whether managed internally or via a service provider—that are designed to ensure their records program meets at least eight key recordkeeping principles now widely adopted by organizations. The Principles, developed by ARMA International, span a range of best practices such as integrity (the ability to prove a record is authentic and unaltered) and compliance (ensuring that records management activities are conducted lawfully).
Canon's RNA Service
Canon's Records Needs Assessment (RNA) consulting service is designed to help organizations attain this goal by analyzing their records program and providing recommendations to close gaps between the program's current and desired future state. Canon consultants use the company's proprietary RNA methodology, the Canon Information Governance Capability Maturity Model. This methodology is based on an extensive range of industry best practices and The Principles.
Canon's RNA service includes a comprehensive strategic report that provides recommendations for records program improvement. The report's findings help companies enhance their information governance framework and can be incorporated into or complement an internal audit program.
For more information about the vital role of records management in meeting today's regulatory and technology challenges, download Canon's “A C-Level View of Records Management: A guide for executive outsourcing decisions.”
About Canon Business Process Services
Canon Business Process Services, Inc. is a leading provider of managed services and technology that enable organizations to improve operational efficiency while reducing risk and cost. Experts apply quality management principles and tools such as Six Sigma to advance performance to a higher level. The company offers services including BPO, imaging, records management, print, mail and eDiscovery, and is an IAOP Global Outsourcing 100 Leader in 2013 for the seventh consecutive year. Based in New York City, Canon Business Process Services is a wholly owned subsidiary of Canon U.S.A., Inc. Learn more at www.cbps.canon.com or follow us on Twitter.
All referenced product names, and other marks, are trademarks of their respective owners.
SOURCE: BUSINESS WIRE