Professional SharePoint® 2007 Records Management Development: Managing Official Records with Microsoft® Office SharePoint® Server 2007

Chapter 1. Official Records

Records management is driven primarily by regulatory compliance and the need to reduce the risk of exposure to legal liability for improperly managing information. The prospect of paying significant fines for not adhering to an increasing array of regulatory requirements provides a strong incentive for companies to implement comprehensive records management solutions. But there can be equally significant costs associated with implementing those solutions that must also be considered. There is the potential for lost productivity as knowledge workers spend more and more time focusing on records management issues. There is also the potential for increased IT costs as additional time and energy must be devoted to building and maintaining the records management infrastructure.

That infrastructure has requirements as well. Not only must it support the identification and handling of official records, but it must also provide the same tools for collaboration, approval, and workflow that other knowledge workers employ in their day-to-day work. Compliance officers are knowledge workers too, and the job of managing official records can be even more daunting than creating them.

Microsoft has published a comprehensive records management planning guide that is essential reading for anyone involved in the development of records management policies and procedures, regardless of whether you are using MOSS as an implementation platform or not. You can download the guide ...