What is records management?

Records management refers to the systematic control of a physical or digital record throughout its lifecycle, from creation and use to maintenance and eventual disposal. This practice ensures that information is appropriately organised, retained, and disposed of according to regulatory requirements and business needs.

But what are the steps that businesses can take to adopt effective records management practices? Read on as we cover this, and more.

Disorganised records are a liability

Records management is about systematically creating, organising, storing, and disposing of records to ensure information integrity, accessibility, and continuity. Done well, records management streamlines operations, ensures regulatory compliance, and protects organisations from financial and reputational risks that arise from mismanaged data. Having business-critical digital information available when it is needed is key to maintaining operational resilience and effectiveness.

Neglecting information management leads to considerable challenges. Disorganised recorded information:

• Inflates realestate costs.
• Complicates retrieval processes.
• Hinders an organisation’s ability to respond quickly to audits or legal inquiries.

Plus, poor record-keeping also increases compliance risks, as organisations may struggle to demonstrate adherence to regulations, potentially resulting in severe penalties and legal issues. The absence of a coherent record-keeping practice strategy also obstructs effective decision-making and heightens the risk of data loss or unauthorised access.

Ultimately, failing to implement proper records management practices reduces organisational agility, diminishes decision-making capabilities, and compromises overall data integrity.

Why businesses adopt next-generation information management practices: 6 key benefits

1. Cost reduction: Sound records management processes enable organisations to lower real estate costs by facilitating a strategic approach to archiving and disposal. Organisations can reduce unnecessary expenses by eliminating redundant or outdated records, archiving inactive documents, and adopting cloud-based solutions for scalable, cost-effective storage. Moreover, by using artificial intelligence (AI) to identify duplicate records and automate data categorisation, organisations further optimise storage management and achieve significant savings.

2. Improved compliance: A systematic approach to document management, guided by well-defined retention policies, helps organisations meet industry-specific regulations and broader legal requirements. Automated compliance checks ensure records are maintained in line with evolving mandates, reducing the risk of non-compliance and costly litigation. Plus, proactive compliance measures not only mitigate liability, but also boost the organisation’s reputation for regulatory diligence.

3. Operational efficiency: Effective records management enhances operational efficiency by making information easy to find. Advanced tagging, metadata enrichment, and intelligent indexing all significantly speed up retrieval, while integration with existing systems ensures relevant information is accessible when needed. This efficiency minimises downtime, reduces workflow interruptions, and enables employees to focus on high-value, strategic tasks rather than administrative burdens.

4. Risk mitigation: A well-defined records management strategy helps mitigate risks related to data breaches, information loss, or unauthorised access. Features such as encryption, role-based access controls, and audit trails ensure that sensitive data remains secure and is accessible only to authorised individuals. Additionally, Standardised retention and disposition policies reduce the risk of mishandling records and strengthen data governance.

5. Support for digital transformation: Embracing sound records management practices is central to driving digital transformation. By digitising paper records and integrating them into digital workflows, organisations create a more agile and accessible information ecosystem.

6. Enhanced decision-making: A comprehensive, well-organised records management system provides a solid foundation for informed decision-making. Decision-makers require timely and accurate information, and modern records management systems ensure that data is readily available when needed. Using analytics tools to extract insights from records allows organisations to identify trends, foresee challenges, and seize opportunities. This data-driven approach not only supports proactive decision-making but also helps organisations gain a competitive edge in the marketplace.

How records management works

In a high-level sense, record management covers the entire lifecycle of both electronic and physical records, encompassing their creation or receipt, classification and indexing, storage and preservation, retrieval and access, retention scheduling, and secure disposal or archiving.

Yet, businesses who choose to outsource their records management buy into solution-specific nuance. Some solution providers offer part of the records’ lifecycle while others are full-service. At Iron Mountain, we’re records management experts — trusted by hundreds of thousands of companies for our efficient, secure, and tailored solutions. Using Smart Sort, our clients can efficiently reorganise their records inventory to ensure accurate, defensible decisions regarding retention, digitisation, or destruction — all based on specific compliance requirements and retention schedules.

Smart Sort automates the decision-making process at the file level, leveraging input from client databases and retention schedules to sort and reorganise records, which reduces storage costs, mitigates risk, and supports rapid responses to legal, business, or regulatory needs.

Here’s a look into how Smart Sort works.

1. Initial assessment and planning: The records management process begins with a thorough consultation to understand the client’s specific recordkeeping and management needs, compliance requirements, and business objectives. Our team gathers essential information from the client's core business applications (e.g., master patient index, policy management systems, case file management systems) and obtains the latest records retention schedules. Based on the collected data, we customise the Smart Sort project to align with the client's unique retention policies, record types, and specific requirements.

2. Consolidation of records inventory: If records are stored across multiple locations or with various vendors, our team consolidates the entire inventory at a secure Iron Mountain facility. This ensures a unified and manageable dataset for the Smart Sort process. For records stored offsite, we employ secure transportation methods to maintain the integrity and confidentiality of the records during consolidation.

3. Automated classification and indexing: Utilising advanced data processing algorithms, Smart Sort extracts key metadata from each record, including creation dates, record types, unique identifiers, and other relevant attributes. At this stage in the recordkeeping system, documents are systematically classified based on predefined categories such as record type (e.g., loans, policies, claims, patient records), retention eligibility dates, and compliance requirements. Plus, each record is indexed to facilitate efficient searchability and retrieval. This indexing includes associating records with specific business functions and regulatory mandates.

4. Defensible decision-making automation: Smart Sort integrates the client's retention schedules to automate decision-making at the file level. This ensures that each record is evaluated against its specific retention criteria. Based on the retention analysis, Smart Sort categorises records into actionable dispositions:

• Retain: Records that must be preserved for ongoing business operations or compliance purposes.
• Digitise: Records suitable for digitisation to support the client’s digital transformation initiatives.
• Destroy: Records eligible for secure and defensible destruction, thereby reducing storage costs and mitigating compliance risks.

The system applies customisable rules to handle complex scenarios, such as overlapping retention policies or multi-location records.

5. Sorting and reorganisation: For physical records, Smart Sort employs specialised equipment and trained personnel to sort and rebox files according to their disposition categories. This includes organising records by destruction eligibility year, record type, or unique identifiers as specified by the client. For digital records, Smart Sort ensures that electronic records are accurately categorised and stored in secure digital repositories, maintaining alignment with the client’s information governance policies.

6. Quality assurance and compliance verification: Throughout the sorting process, Smart Sort conducts rigorous validation checks to ensure the accuracy and consistency of classification and disposition decisions. Our team performs compliance audits to verify that all disposition actions adhere to relevant regulations and the client’s internal policies, providing an additional layer of assurance.

7. Reporting and documentation: Upon completion of the Smart Sort process, our team delivers detailed reports that provide file-level visibility. These reports include:

• Overview of records retained, digitised, and destroyed.
• Comprehensive metadata for each record, facilitating easy retrieval and future audits.
• Documentation supporting the defensible nature of disposition decisions, essential for regulatory compliance and legal defensibility.

Smart Sort maintains complete audit trails of all actions taken during the sorting process, ensuring transparency and accountability.

8. Secure disposal and archiving: Records designated for destruction are securely shredded or otherwise disposed of in accordance with industry best practices and regulatory standards, ensuring complete data eradication. Retained and digitised records are securely stored in our state-of-the-art facilities or the client’s chosen digital repositories, ensuring long-term preservation and easy access when needed.

9. Ongoing support and maintenance: We offer ongoing support to monitor the effectiveness of the records management system. We also conduct regular reviews and update retention schedules and classification rules to adapt to evolving business needs and regulatory changes. Plus, our recordkeeping system is designed to scale with the client’s growing records inventory, providing flexible solutions for expanding or evolving records management requirements.

The Iron Mountain Solution: How Smart Sort helped a hospital improve visibility, ensure compliance, and reduce costs

By implementing Iron Mountain's Smart Sort, a large U.S. medical center was able to efficiently locate, sort, and manage its extensive records through automated file-level identification and disposition decisions.

Smart Sort provided full visibility of each file box, enabling the medical center to make defensible decisions on record retention and destruction in line with legal and regulatory standards. As a result, the hospital reduced storage expenses by $1 million over five years, freed up space for new patient care initiatives, accelerated the move towards a paper-free records system, and improved the accuracy and speed of record retrieval.

Click here to read the full case study. Or, if you have questions on how Iron Mountain can provide superior document management services for your operations, reach out to a team member today.