The benefits of electronic records management systems: A general review of published and some unpublished cases

Headnote

Abstract

Purpose - To review published case studies, and some unpublished results, to identify the benefits actually achieved by implementing an electronic records management system or an electronic document management system (ERMS, or EDMS).

Design/methodology/approach - Draws on the literature and unpublished results of work undertaken by the authors' organisation.

Findings - Few case studies were found in which clear, quantitative benefits are described. The reasons for this are discussed. Those studies that did show clear benefits with good evidence for them demonstrated five principles: (1) the "system" must include the people (policy makers and users); (2) the EDRMS must be integrated with the processes of the organisation; (3) frequently the role of records managers is to educate, advise and support the users; (4) a continuum model covering documents and records gives clearer benefits than separate document and record lifecycles; and (5) there is no single magic bullet to solve information management problems.

Practical implications - An organisation which is planning to implement an EDRMS, or which is planning to upgrade or modify an existing EDRMS, can be confident that real benefits and an acceptable return on investment are possible.

Originality/value - This paper identifies benefits that have been realised in practice from EDRMS implementations.

Keywords Records management, Document management, Case studies

Paper type General review

Introduction

This paper is a review of the benefits claimed by, or achieved by, organisations which have implemented an electronic records management system (ERMS), an electronic document management system (EDMS), or an electronic document and records management system (EDRMS). Since one finding is that users benefit most from a continuum model covering both documents and records, the term EDRMS will be used henceforth in this paper. The review has sought practical examples that illustrate the success, or otherwise, of implementing an EDRMS. The discussion is divided into two streams: do EDRMSs work in terms of their technical functionalities, and do they provide an acceptable return on investment? In each case, a critical question is whether the EDRMS works in human terms.

This review also discusses whether an EDRMS is able to manage the types of records that exist now, not just text-based documents, but active objects such as spreadsheets, and multi-dimensional objects such as websites and databases.

What...