AIIM Releases Revised EDMS Recommended Practices

Silver Spring, MD – June 16, 2009 – AIIM, the non-profit industry association focused on enterprise content management (ECM) announces the release of the revised AIIM ARP-1 – 2009, Analysis, Selection, and Implementation of Electronic Document Management Systems (EDMS).

This recommended practice was originally published in 2001 and has been updated as technologies matured and were updated.  The number of organizations and users who have downloaded and utilized this document resulted in the committee preparing updates as technology changes dictated.  The 2009 version incorporates many updates in the areas of procedures and improved methodologies that have been shown to greatly improve the overall EDMS project success ratio.  This updated guide presents a set of procedures and activities which should be considered when initiating any Electronic Document Management System (EDMS) project.  Included in the guide is an outline of recommended activities to be completed throughout the phases of an EDMS project and the national and international standards that are available to provide beneficial guidance.

As part of the update, AIIM captured the best practices for a trusted document management system.  “We noticed increased discussion in the industry about what constitutes a trusted system, so we undertook the process of determining the general parameters of the best practices in the industry,” said Robert M. Blatt, chair of the AIIM Implementation Guidelines Committee  There are four elements necessary for a system to be trusted: 1. duplicate copies generated and one copy stored offsite in a secure location; 2. use of media and hardware sufficient to prevent unauthorized alterations; 3. ability to verify the accuracy of the system through audit logs; and 4. business practices  and policies to support the system. 

“Through the AIIM Implementation Guidelines Committee we found that many systems already meet several of the elements, but they may be lacking policies and procedures or they may not be storing the information offsite, and that makes the entire system vulnerable," said Arthur Hedge, CastleVentures. "The last thing an organization would want to happen is to spend thousands of dollars on a system, and then not be able to say that the electronic information is an accurate rendition of what was put in the system for safekeeping.”

Leading experts in the EDMS field joined forces to draft this document.  ARP-1 is intended to assist in planning and implementing electronic content management or document management systems.  It outlines specific recommended activities and steps as well as provides information as to what technical reports, guidelines, and standards (national and international) have been specifically developed for technologies used in document management systems.

“Companies that will be facing any type of E-discovery requests should pay close attention to ARP-1 as it provides guidance on the critical first steps toward being able to certify to courts or regulators that the documents produced are accurate,” states Virginia Jo Dunlap, a former general counsel and securities regulator who led large scale investigations focused on E-discovery. 

AIIM ARP-1 can be downloaded for free at http://www.aiim.org/standards/article.aspx?ID=36656.

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About AIIM
AIIM (www.aiim.org) is the community that provides education, research, and best practices to help organizations find, control, and optimize their information.  The AIIM community has grown to over 65,000 professionals from all industries and government, in over 150 unique countries, and within all levels of management including senior executives, line-of-business, and IT.

For over 60 years, AIIM has been the leading non-profit organization focused on helping users to understand the challenges associated with managing documents, content, records, and business processes. Today, AIIM is international in scope, independent, implementation-focused, and, as the representative of the entire enterprise content management (ECM) industry - including users, suppliers, and the channel - acts as the industry's intermediary.

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For more information, contact:

Betsy Fanning
Director, Standards
AIIM
301.755.2682
bfanning@aiim.org