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Building RIM Programs

Chattanooga Chapter of ARMA International

byHelen Streck

President and CEOKaizen InfoSource LLC

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Answering the Proverbial WHY?• Why spend money on an RIM Program:

– Lowest productivity of employees in U.S. ever – • Different departments trying to solve their part of the

puzzle alone• Least effective team work in solving an enterprise issue• Ever evolving technology and company demands• Duplicate work by employees

– Cost of chaos – hard numbers and total lost value– Information the new currency– Inoperability between systems – no info

connection– Bad press – is it worth the risk?– Is compliance a real “Why?”

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What is a Program?

• Programs do not have start and end dates

• Have governance or rules• Have a budget allotted• Have staffing• Have a mission, strategy, and ongoing

initiatives and activities

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What a Program is NOT?

• Programs are NOT projects• Retention Schedules and Policy(s) are

not Programs• Assigning RIM oversight to non-RIM

professionals• Hoping file shares will clean

themselves up• Rules without training and education

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Benefits of RIM

• Documents compliance with laws and regulations

• Increases employee productivity• Reduces expenses (e.g. servers and

offsite)• Reduces risk exposure• Reduces eDiscovery costs

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Area of ROI with a RIM Program

• eDiscovery savings• Storage costs• Improved ability to search and find• Improved ability to mine data• Increased employee productivity

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Where to Start?1. Know where your organization is today2. Identify pain points3. Determine the mission of the RIM

Program4. Identify initiatives and resource

requirements5. Define the rules6. Build the governance7. Apply Change Management

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Start with an SWOT

• Start with a SWOT – Assessment of Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats– Describes your current electronic

information state– Identifies gaps between current state and

best practices• Then recommend next steps based on

risks, priorities, and resources

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Strengths Opportunities

Weaknesses Threats

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Strengths Opportunities

Executive/Corporate Secretary Support RMP staff commitment Improved collaboration with IT Good vendor services for hard copy

storage Commitment of Records Manager Existence of RMP policy and procedures

Expand scope of RIMP to include all information types

Revise rules, controls and processes and to be comprehensive in the appropriate documentation

Defining and building formal partnerships both internal and external

Creating educational courses to increase understanding and knowledge

Updating RIMP strategy, mission and scope in line with industry best practices

Weaknesses Threats

Lack of RIM professional staff on RIMP team

Formal partnerships with other departments

Outdated policy, records retention schedule and procedures

Lack of adequate procedures RIMP scope does not include all

information

Increased volume of information in multiple formats

Increased litigation and demands for more information access and preservation

Increased risk of data loss or exposure of private information due to uninformed employees

Loss of vital or critical data for Company operations

Increase demand on corporate resources to store, find and access information because of lack of classification

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Benefits of a SWOT

• Objective view of the state• Tool to obtain consensus and buy in• Suggests RIM is an ongoing effort and

identifies areas of risk• Serves as an internal marketing tool to

raise awareness and senior-level support

• A place to work from to build the strategy and initiatives

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Elements of a RIM Program

• Mission/Vision• Governance – Policy, Retention

Schedule, Standards• Training and Education• Process(es) – Procedures• Automation• Accountability

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Conflict of Ownership and Accountability

• Departments own the work process and product deliverables

• Organization “owns” the data• Documentation and the need for

standardization• Understanding the risk of poor

documentation• Productivity vs. Compliance (us vs

them)

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Retention

“An organization shall maintain its information for an appropriate time, taking into account legal, regulatory,

fiscal, operational, and historical requirements.”

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Using the Retention Schedule

• List of records series • Primary level of classification• Associated documents • Defining metadata at the primary

level• Length to maintain each series• Risk of “over-keeping” data

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Importance of Classification

• RIM provides good classification– Document/Data categories– Identification of records vs. non-records– Legal identification of retention

requirements– Workflows across departments– Classification/Index/Taxonomies– Multiple views – people and computers

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What Protection and Security?

• Protection and security – Private information – knowing if entire

category is confidential and/or private– Security classes of information– Rights and access to the various classes– Protection of restricted/classified

information– HIPAA and other laws and regulations– Procedures and standards

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Vital and Important Information

• The loss of important information may disrupt business but not jeopardize the mission.

• Important records may be cost prohibitive to replace.

• Important records are not required to have special protection, but often they do.

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What is the Vital Records Component of RIM?

• It’s the systematic, comprehensive, and economical control associated with vital information

• It prepares an organization for nearly any threatening situation.

• It has evaluated the risks and determined the necessary level of protection.

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Keys of Managing Vital Information

• Identifies information that MUST be available during or after a disaster to resume business

• Identifies potential and existing exposures to risk for a class of documents

• Establishes ways to measure and evaluate such risks

• Determines actions to remove or reduce risks• Implements Change Management for

improved behaviors• Provides ongoing scrutiny against future risks

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Conundrums of RIM• Starting after years of amassing data• Takes time to build• Needs resources for a time before ROI• Getting Management’s attention to the

need• Building in “doable” steps• Defining who is in charge of the team –

accountability• Applying change management so

employees are enabled to make change

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BUILDING AN RIM PROGRAM

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Steps and Elements of RIM Program

1. Conduct a SWOT2. Assign accountability and responsibility for

the Program3. Identify the internal and external partners4. Define the strategy and approach5. Develop the right level of Governance6. Develop an implementation plan and training7. Train employees and implement procedures8. Develop and implement Change

Management and Communication

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Develop Governance

• Policies – Records and Information Management Policy

• Retention Schedule - Primary level classification

• Standards and Procedures– Multiple procedures for active, inactive,

legal hold, etc.

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Legal Holds Component

• Legal holds can suspend disposition while actual or pending litigation is in process.

• Need documented procedures

• Coordination between Legal and RIM

• Be sure employees know

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Session Summary

• What is a RIM Program• Where to Start• RIM Team• Building the Framework• Special Considerations – DRBC– Privacy– Security

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Closing Notes• The scope of RIM for information is

broader than just storing the records.• There are many factors that affect

good recordkeeping—standards, litigation, disasters, privacy. They all must be addressed in an RIM program.

• Start with know what you have• Develop a strong team

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THANK YOU!

Helen StreckPresident and CEO

Kaizen InfoSource LLCwww.2kaizen.com

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