Archive and records management: department for education

Digitization of employee records by Iron Mountain helps CSC create a consistent global HR environment for better resource management

Challenge:

A corporate edict required employee files to be digitised and uploaded to a new global digital HR environment

Solution:

Secure document imaging services to create digital files of employee records in Visio format, delivered to CSC via DVD

Value:

Better quality, more consistent HR information accessible globally by authorised company personnel

Client

Employing 98,000 staff, CSC is one of the world's leading global IT services companies. It specializes in business and technology transformation, to help corporate customers, governments, and communities solve their toughest challenges.

In the Netherlands CSC has around 375 people focused across a variety of sectors, notably healthcare, where it is helping implement electronic patient records systems, and transport, where it develops and operates speed camera technology. A further 250 people have recently joined CSC in the Netherlands through the company's acquisition of specialist healthcare software solutions provider iSoft.

"Iron Mountain brought a great deal of expertise to the project. They also provided us with comprehensive details about the security measures that they would take during the scanning process. We used this information to inform our works council and help overcome their concerns about confidentiality."

DIANA BERGHORST, MANAGER HR OPERATIONS, CSC

Challenge

The combination of a widely-dispersed workforce and heterogeneous HR reporting and administration processes had become a barrier to consistent global reporting of headcount and other HR aspects. To standardise and improve visibility of employee related matters, CSC took a corporate decision to extend the application of SAP business management software to support the company’s HR function on a global basis.

Diana Berghorst, Manager HR Operations at CSC, comments: “We are building an HR shared services centre which will enable consistent, single source access to digital HR data. It’s a global project. SAP HR will align the dispersed per-country HR processes, while allowing for specific local legislation and requirements.”

The issue was that company HR records were largely paper-based. Each CSC entity worldwide was tasked with converting all current employee files to a digital format to enable upload to the new global digital HR environment.

Solution

The document management solution CSC chose was FileNet, which is based on the Digital Personnel File product of Aconso, an IBM company. However, each country was free to make its own local arrangements for the creation of digital employee files for upload to this system.

“We selected Iron Mountain for the scanning project because it was our data storage supplier,” confirms Diana Berghorst. “Our colleagues in the UK also recommended Iron Mountain for the task so we asked for a proposal, which we accepted.”

A typical employee file contains between 60 and 100 pages of information including job applications, employment contracts, and appraisals, as well as disciplinary and attendance records. The task involved Iron Mountain collecting the paper-based files for scanning and indexing. Once scanned, the paper employee files were returned to CSC within two weeks, while the new digitised electronic files were delivered to CSC in Visio format via DVD.

The digital employee records were structured in accordance with global rules defined by CSC and communicated to Iron Mountain via a CSC project leader in Germany. Each file is identified by a unique employee number and content description. Once scanned, documents are placed in relevant electronic folders within an individual’s electronic employee record.

Diana Berghorst says: “Iron Mountain brought a great deal of expertise to the project. They also provided us with comprehensive details about the security measures that they would take during the scanning process. We used this information to inform our works council and help overcome their concerns about confidentiality.”

Value

Completion of the scanning of employee files has made CSC in the Netherlands one of the first regions to comply with corporate requirements for the implementation of the digital global HR environment. This provides improved visibility of employee data in a consistent format, accessible by authorised company personnel worldwide.

Diana Berghorst sums up: “Overall Iron Mountain did a fine job and operated in a very professional way throughout the project. They delivered what they promised, on time and within budget.” Iron Mountain is now set to embark on the next phase of the project, to incorporate the employee records of the 250 former iSoft employees that are now part of the CSC group.

"Iron Mountain brought a great deal of expertise to the project. They also provided us with comprehensive details about the security measures that they would take during the scanning process."