Lost or deleted documents can cause chaos in any business environment, small or large. Yet managing business records is often an afterthought, especially for smaller businesses that are solely focused on the day to day. Because no business is immune to data loss or deletion, all businesses need to give careful thought and consideration to how important documents will be managed and retained. Sometimes the best way to get started is to keep things simple and begin with the basics. These 5 rules to records retention management will help your business create and implement a records retention strategy so you’ll always have the right documents on hand.
1. Follow state regulations first
Some states place regulations on certain types of records, based on the industry your company falls under. For example, medical practices often have to follow specific records retention guidelines for medical records containing patient health information. Retention lengths can vary state by state, so it’s important to verify how long your state requires medical records be maintained. Some states require covered entities to maintain PHI for the lifetime of the patient. Similarly, the IRS expects businesses to keep accounting data on file for at least 7 years in the event that you require an audit.
2. Create a records retention policy
Whether you need to get your entire organization on board, or you’ll be putting records retention management in the hands of a few qualified employees, it’s important to build a records retention policy. A records retention policy should create clear guidelines that help your employees identify which documents need preserving, determine where each document should be stored and for how long, and identify which employees are in charge of managing your records management practices so everyone’s clear on the roles and responsibilities they share. Employees should be able to rely on your policy whenever there is confusion about the need to retain a document or file. The state regulations that you’ve identified as pertaining to you should also be included in this policy document.
3. Never trust a physical storage device
No matter how well and in how many places you’ve stored your business records, accidents and unexpected incidents can still happen and can jeopardize your data. For instance, any physical storage device is susceptible to hardware damage, device failure or theft. And even if you’ve prepared by keeping your devices in secure rooms, the unexpected fire, flood or lightning strike can foil the plans you thought were foolproof.
4. Have automated backups
If you want absolute control over your ability to restore your business records and data, no matter what disaster strikes, your only foolproof option is cloud backup. Depending on your business needs, there are multiple levels of cloud backup options that can provide you with more, or less, advanced coverage options. If getting your data back up and running in the event of a disaster is critical to keeping your business going, you can opt for instantaneous file retrieval through preemptive server virtualization. Not every business will need an advanced option such as this, and may be able to get along perfectly fine just by have a standard backup plan fit for small to medium sized businesses.
This step is especially important if you’re making changes to files frequently, or do so at least once in awhile. When employees are accessing and making changes to files, mistakes can happen. Data, or even entire files, can be deleted or lost. This is why technology specialists emphasize the importance of automated, continuous backup systems. Automation prevents you from missing a backup, and continuous backups mean your backup never misses a file change, allowing you to revert to any previous file version to repair a mistake or bounce back from a data hijacking virus.
5. Utilize a data storage archive
Many of the records you’ll need to maintain and fortify against loss and deletion will be documents you don’t have the need to access or edit. When this is the case, you can save storage (and backup) space by archiving them. All businesses do this differently, but if you want to use the tools you already have at your disposal to create a reliable archive location, you can use your cloud backup software as an archive. To do this, you’ll have to run a backup of the data to be archived and then disable that backup job from running again so there won’t be multiple copies of the archive taking up space. You can learn more about doing this here, or send these instructions over to your IT guy.
Getting your records retention plan in order doesn’t have to be difficult, and by implementing these 5 rules, you’ll be well on your way to ensuring your files are always there when you need them.
To check rules 4 and 5 off your list in seconds, click here to sign up for a free 30 day trial of Nordic Backup. With plans of all sizes to fit your business’s specific needs, you’ll find all of the advanced cloud backup features to keep your data a click away.
