Electronic Records and Document Management

The management of electronic records is recognised as one of the vital underpinning elements in the government's modernisation programme. This revolution affects the public and private sector alike.

In today’s information-rich world, there are many issues facing organisations when considering their data storage and management solutions. In addition to emails, companies have new forms of information to consider, such as telephone calls and video footage from CCTV, which proves vital when crimes are committed. Companies are now having to grapple with how to build an IT infrastructure that retains data over long periods of time, keeps data secure in its original format and that can easily be recovered at any time. Laws such as the Freedom of Information Act, state that public authorities must comply with requests for the information they hold from the general public, which may pose data accessibility challenges.

Current legislation dictates that your business takes steps to ensure compliance. This is another thing for organisations to consider when deciding upon a storage strategy. Of course, considerations must be made regarding capacity, performance and manageability, but the compliance of data storage legislation is another significant factor.

The plethora of legislation surrounding data storage can be overwhelming but there are three recurring themes that have a direct effect on a company’s storage strategy:

1. Data Permanence. This is the concept that data must be saved to media that cannot be altered or erased until a specified expiration date.
2. Data Security. Security requirements vary widely, but almost every entity is subject to some type of security regulation.
3. Auditability. Having a secure audit trail is at the heart of this requirement.

The solution

Visionhall consultants can help you create a tailor-made solution that will take into account your individual business requirements and will leave your data secure, safe and compliant.

We use the latest technologies, including open source, to ensure our data and record storage systems comply with all current legislation.

However storage is only half the story. We also ensure that information stored in our systems is easily accessible to those who need it and can be shared with others, where appropriate. Complex workflows can be created to manage a variety of case types. We can help you to create standards for records, for example following the "Model Requirements Specification for the Management of Electronic Records" or MoReq2 and ISO 23081, which define generic requirements for record management.

By switching to our document management system, you cut down on waste paper and promote a greener company environment.

Data Migration

An important part of implementation plans is the migration of data from existing case management systems. Visionhall have experience of creating tools for just this purpose. Visionhall can build a purpose-built data converter for each existing CMS. The converter will publish the data in one single uniform format that will be consumed by the end system. Each converter will have data-mapping tables. The conversion routine can be run numerous times leaving the source data unchanged. Each iteration will produce an exception report highlighting data quality issues. Each issue can be dealt with on its merits either at source or within the converter. Eventually, a ‘clean’ conversion is achieved.

Data Quality

interCOMM can produce management reports, statistics and Key Performance Indicators drawn for all information held in the CMS so it is essential a high level of data quality is achieved to maximise the benefits of using the one system across the board. Visionhall have adopted the framework set out by the New Zealand Ministry of Justice following their success. The framework identifies four data quality dimensions as being of the highest priority: accuracy, completeness, timeliness and accessibility.