Disaster Recovery Journal

spend close to $500,000 to sort through each carton and determine exactly what’s inside.

Consider a second example: A well-designed and operated filing system with an effective index can facilitate easy record, document filing, and retrievals. If a company with an RIM program in place acquires another company, it will be able to quickly integrate the acquired company’s records with its own.

That, in turn, will help the company ensure its legal/regulatory compliance requirements are up to date. It will also allow it to tap the “institutional memory” of the acquired company’s employees, some of whom may not stick around for long after the deal is consummated.

On the other hand, if the company is looking to sell one of its holdings and the acquiring company’s legal and/or financial representatives need a variety of on-and off-site data as part of the M&A due diligence process, the ability to quickly deliver that data will prevent delays that could slow or even jeopardize the transaction.

company and its subsidiaries to quickly access business-critical information and get back up and running quickly.

Further, it will help management identify and then mitigate legal, regulatory and other compliance risks, operate more efficiently, and dramatically reduce its data storage and IT expenses.

As Cantor-Fitzgerald demonstrated
more than 10 years ago, having a solid
records information management and
disaster recovery plan in place is critical to
virtually any business.

Annual Audits

Last but definitely not least, remember that change is inevitable. New laws are introduced, and existing laws are often revised. Corporate assets are bought and sold, and each transaction brings the potential for new legal and/or regulatory compliance commitments.

All of this means you will need to establish an RIM auditing process. Audit your processes at least once a year with either an internal expert or an external consultant overseeing the review. In addition to ensuring the policy is being properly enforced, the audit will also ensure the RIM procedures are still aligned with the company’s businesses.

In today’s business world, you need to know what information you have, where it is and how to get it when and where you need it. Armed with the information they need – when they need it – employees will be able to react, respond, and complete tasks more proficiently and accurately.