Many firms are still laying themselves open to litigation by not
managing their information effectively.
Firms are failing to effectively manage their
unstructured information, which can comprise 80% of their total
data, says the Document and Records Management (DRM) report from
analyst Butler Group.
"Senior executives must understand their responsibilities for
the management of information: claiming ignorance of poor practices
is no defence," says the report.
The report contends that if organisations are foresighted enough
to look beyond
compliance, and plan the implementation of DRM so that it
provides business benefits - for example enabling users to save all
unstructured information in a central repository from which it can
be accessed and shared - they will also be able to cut costs.
In these circumstances, says Butler Group, compliance "will be
free".
"Despite an increase in the
number of regulations and legislation to which organisations
must adhere to, compliance is still low on the agenda for many, and
litigation risk continues to be a bigger threat in the UK and
Europe ", says Sue Clarke, an analyst at Butler Group.