What to look for in a hybrid RM software solution
In last week’s blog post we talked about how to overcome the top challenges when managing electronic and physical records together in the same environment.
While policies and operating practices go a long way towards successfully managing the hybrid environment, another essential piece of the puzzle is the software that underpins your records management (RM) program.
Key criteria for hybrid records management software
Not all records management software is designed specifically for managing electronic and paper records together. When evaluating a solution, you need to be sure that it will seamlessly accommodate the two formats.
A true hybrid RM system should:
- Integrate both electronic and physical records management in one system with a common user interface.
- Allow you to define document types and their retention and disposition requirements. This will allow you to easily determine if a document needs to be managed physically, electronically or both. This provides the convenience of a paperless system while easily maintaining compliance requirements relating to paper document retention.
- Integrate with email, electronic content management (ECM) and line-of-business software systems. This ensures that documents and records can be made available for online workflow processes and collaboration, while still maintaining the lifecycle management requirements of the official record.
- Offer a well-designed physical records management component. It should make it easy to maintain order in file rooms and document repositories while enabling quick and efficient access to physical documents.
- Allow you to easily manage corporate retention schedules. You should be able to make updates whenever needed – without requiring costly and time-consuming programming work by the software vendor.
There are also a number of technical aspects to consider, but these core features are the bare minimum to look for when choosing a hybrid-ready software solution.
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