ECM and the Five Challenges of Compliance
Million dollar fines, ongoing lawsuits, and damaged reputations — companies today know all too well that these are but a few of the risks associated with regulatory compliance.
While some companies are already behind the regulation eight ball, the real problem lies in the fact that the ball is continually on the move. Quick fix, ad-hoc solutions work well to meet short-term needs, but they prove unsatisfactory over the long haul. In order to understand the criteria for a successful solution, you must first understand the five factors that make compliance so challenging. These factors include:
Sheer volume growth
In an attempt to comply, companies resort to the pack-rat syndrome by saving everything. But storing information is only a small part of the compliance solution. The real power is in the ability to authenticate, access, and retrieve any record, at any time.
Proliferation of e-documents
No longer are companies able to box up hard-copy records and ship them to a storage facility with instructions to destroy in seven years. In today's business world, over ninety percent of documents are created electronically, and only thirty percent ever make it to paper.
Multiple content creators
The International Council on Archives defines a record as any information produced or received in the initiation, conduct, or completion of an institutional or individual activity — and that comprises content, context, and structure sufficient to provide evidence of the activity. In other words, virtually every employee in every department is capable of creating a record.
Demand for speed
Regulatory authorities are imposing time limits on companies to provide required information and, in today's age of instant-response, the expectation is that the content be provided immediately.
No end in sight
Establishing and complying with regulations are two entirely different things. Today, there are over 10,000 federal, state, and industry-specific regulations active in the United States alone. The side effects of this focus on compliance include soaring storage costs, exploding eDiscovery expenses, and hampered employee productivity.
In an effort to integrate compliance functionality into existing processes, today's companies are turning to Enterprise Content Management (ECM) systems. ECM systems provide for compliance, as well as for broader business goals, such as productivity, automation, cost reduction, and superior customer service. The key to a successful ECM implementation can be summed up in one word, easy — as in easy to use, easy to evolve, and easy to deploy. In addition, an effective ECM system should offer web-based access, an intuitive interface, generic functionality, and be fully configurable.
Being able to integrate compliance technology into day–to–day business operations is essential. It is this functionality that powers OpenEDMS, the content management solution that businesses have relied on for the past five years.
Group 1 Software's OpenEDMS is a dynamic, content management system designed to optimize the security, integrity, and accessibility of business-critical information within organizations of all sizes. Unlike other solutions, OpenEDMS was not designed solely for compliance, but for a broad range of document and content management needs — including compliance.
Download a full-length paper on ECM and compliance, or learn more about OpenEDMS.
In addition to OpenEDMS, Group 1 offers a suite of solutions that make is easier to create, manage, and archive documents. For more information, visit the Group 1 web site, or contact us at 888-413-6763.