According to the Presidential Memorandum issued on November 28, 2011, the heads of all executive departments and agencies are now responsible for ensuring the successful adherence to records management requirements set forth in federal statutes and regulations. The memorandum makes this effort a priority for senior agency management in an attempt to ensure that proper resources are allocated though specific funding has not been allocated. Management of electronic records such as email and social media, as well as the deployment of cloud based services and other methods of electronic storage are included in the PM.

After an initial push to respond to the 2012 reports required by the memorandum, agencies’ new policies and regulations were presented in a Managing Government Records Directive issued on August 24, 2012.

As government agencies address the task of complying with the directive, they must determine not only how to accomplish the goals established, but how to do so efficiently.  The directive identifies and establishes practices and policies that will facilitate improvements in records management across all executive departments and agencies, including the following requirements:

• Management of permanent electronic records in electronic format
• Electronic management of all permanent and temporary email records
• Transference of all permanent records more than 30 years old to NARA
• Mandatory digital records training for all federal agency employees
• Establishment of a Records Retention Schedule

According to conversations taking place across social media platforms, many government agencies are overwhelmed in their efforts to manage their electronically stored records and the cost associated with compliance. In order to manage anxieties associated with this extremely complex task, historically the reaction has been to try to hold on to everything for an indeterminate period of time.

While EDRM and ECM software may help with organization and management of information going forward, it does little to get to the heart of the current problem, which is nearly two decades’ accumulation of records and other information hiding on servers, hard drives, thumb drives and other repositories—including closets, drawers, file rooms, and in off-site storage facilities.  Most of these hiding places are bursting at the seams, and while implementing management best practices moving forward will help prevent the creation of this chaotic mess in the future, it will not help with the information dumping site that already exists in every agency.  In a few years, those hiding places will be exposed, leaving decision-makers and their agencies, once again, vulnerable and overwhelmed.

In order to effectively manage records and other information going forward, agencies must identify, classify and clean up what has already been stored.   While this task is complex and overwhelming, Cadence Group is prepared to shoulder this burden and move forward.  And, unlike the EDRM and ECM software, which can be multi-year, million-dollar projects, Cadence Group offers a solution at a fraction of the cost and with a rapid ROI.  Doing it right the first time will save you time and money in both the short and long term.

In collaboration with Deepdive® Technologies, Cadence Group has created a records and information cleanup tool, known as ePurge. ePurge is and easy-to-use tool designed to help records managers, compliance officers and legal teams remove redundant, obsolete and otherwise useless information from electronic storage devices.  Combining software as a service (SaaS) with RIM consulting expertise, ePurge helps agencies protect critical records while eliminating unnecessary information.

Starting with a program assessment, Cadence Group will build a program foundation and take clients all the way through the training, staffing and support necessary to successfully complete the program.  Cadence Group can assist with everything from establishing a clear file plan and retention schedules to managing cleanup.  As an alternative to our in-house consulting services, Cadence Group can also provide staffing and training for your employees, allowing you to use the tool to clean up your own information.

With over 20 years experience in managing information, Cadence Group understands that companies have individual needs when it comes to information management. Therefore, each engagement is customized for the client.