Achieved and tangible benefits: lessons learned from a landmark EDRMS implementation
| Date | 20 February 2009 |
| Pages | 37-53 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/09565690910937236 |
| Published date | 20 February 2009 |
| Author | Linda Wilkins,Paula M.C. Swatman,Duncan Holt |
| Subject Matter | Information & knowledge management |
Achieved and tangible benefits:
lessons learned from a landmark
EDRMS implementation
Linda Wilkins
RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia
Paula M.C. Swatman
University of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia, and
Duncan Holt
Serco Asia Pacific, Adelaide, Australia
Abstract
Purpose – Entering the twenty-first century, burgeoning information management needs in both the
private and public sectors are pushing adoption of automated records management systems.
Electronic Document and Records Management Systems (EDRMS) are evolving as the most likely
solution. Despite this trend, relatively few published accounts of e-records implementations exist that
present achieved and measurable benefits. This paper seeks to discuss these issues.
Design/methodology/approach – The authors highlight a set of workflow driven strategies that
required considerable managerial and financial investment.
Findings – The case study shows just how crucial it is for any organisation to bring with it the
people and the processes involved in the creation, management and maintenance of records and
information, if a centralised approach is to work over the longer term.
Practical implications – The detailed nature of the investigation also serves to highlight a set of
well-documented IT strategies for records management. These strategies, carefully put in place before
the project got under way, demonstrably underpin the implementation and its outcomes. Practitioners
should find the opportunity to examine and select transferable practices from each stage of the
implementation particularly valuable.
Originality/value – This review of a recent landmark EDRMS implementation in an Australian
local government authority supplements the sparse literature currently available.
Keywords Change management,Electronic document delivery,Work flow, Australia
Paper type Case study
1. The changing records management environment
Electronic record systems are attractive to institutions primarily as: a means of solving
their record management problems; improving the quality and coherence of their
processes; automating guidelines and pathways; and assisting the m in their
management of outcomes. Government authorities must also comply with legislative
requirements, whereas in the industry sector the driving factors for adoption are
focussed more on knowledge retention for the organisation and efficiency of operatio n.
These drivers for the uptake of what are now most often Electronic Document and
Records Management Systems (EDRMS) have not been consistent across national
boundaries. In the UK, for example, preparations for freedom of information
legislation, together with the availability of some government funding, have played a
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A landmark
EDRMS
implementation
37
Received 5 May 2008
Revised 19 September 2008
Records Management Journal
Vol. 19 No. 1, 2009
pp. 37-53
qEmerald Group Publishing Limited
0956-5698
DOI 10.1108/09565690910937236
key role (McLeod and Hare, 2005), while in Sweden the 2003 Freedom of the Press Act
(Granath et al., 2004) mandates that all Swedish subjects must have free access to
official documents.
A rather different motive has driven US government attempts to encourage
universal adoption of effective electronic records management – a series of high-profile
record keeping related scandals around the turn of the century culminated in the
introduction of the US Public Company Accounting Reform and Investor Protection
Act (usually known as the Sarbanes-Oxley Act) in 2002. The passing of this landmark
legislation means that US organisations (as well as any foreign companies sharing
trading arrangements with the US), many of which had tended to see records
management as an optional activity unrelated to the company’s core business, are now
far more likely to view records management as critical to their firm’s survival
(Stephens, 2005a). This author notes that: “the Act contains a number of important
record-keeping provisions, including mandated retention requirements for certain
types of records. Non-compliance is now a Federal crime and can result in punishment
of up to 20 years in prison” (Stephens, 2005a, p. 99).
Whether in Europe, North America or Australasia, records management is gaining
increasing prominence in both public and private sectors as a consequence of two
inter-related phenomena:
(1) The changing nature of information: the increasingly electronic nature of
documents and records (whether “born digital” or “made digital”) makes it
increasingly possible for organisations to manage their information at an
enterprise-wide level (Findlay, 2002; Duff, 2006; Fuzeau, 2003).
(2) Lack of formal recordkeeping standards: the very accessibility of information
today has, however, led to some astonishing misuses of formal recordkeeping
processes (see, for example, Ackman, 2002; or Holtzman et al., 2003).
Governments around the world are steadily issuing laws, regulations and guidelines
covering an ever-widening range of records management perspectives. The US, UK
and Australia are in the forefront of these national endeavours, although the European
Union is starting to catch up with them. It is beyond the scope of this paper to itemise
all the legislative changes which have been made in the last few years, but a brief
summary of some of the most significant of these changes (see Nguyen et al., 2007 for a
considerably more detailed list) will illustrate just how central records management
has become in today’s business environment:
.Australia’s Corporate Law Economic Reform Program (Audit Reform and
Corporate Disclosure) Act (CLERP 9), gazetted in July 2004, substantially
strengthens disclosure requirements for listed Australian companies, while the
Australian Corporations Law of 1989 (revised in 2001) authorises the use of
electronic record media in business record keeping, provided the information can
be reproduced at any time in written form (Stephens, 2005b)
.In addition to the landmark Sarbanes-Oxley Act, the US government has passed
or amended some extremely significant pieces of legislation, including the
Federal Rules of Bankruptcy, Civil & Criminal Procedure, and the Federal Rules
of Evidence, which together affect 5 related areas of record keeping: early
attention to issues relating to electronic discovery; accessibility; privilege; the
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