PRISM News

South African Newspaper Highlights MetroFile Survey

Kimble finds these numbers concerning. “When it comes to storing paper-based records, businesses have two choices: on- site or off-site records management,” he told the newspaper. “Companies that need immediate access to documents and records feel they have no choice but to store them on site.” But with the capabilities of effective records management systems, the complexity of accessing the right documents in the right format at the right time opens the door for a number of additional solutions to businesses of all sizes

Kimble stressed that businesses storing paper documents implement adequate measures to protect their records. Such measures are needed, especially because nearly half (48%) of the survey respondents reported having no plans to move away from paper-based to electronic document storage anytime soon.

KirkpatrickPrice Risk

Paper records management is just part of doing business in South Africa, Guy Kimble said.

The paperless office is still a distant dream—at least in South Africa, said Guy Kimble of MetroFile Records Management in an article published in The New Age, a daily newspaper in that country.

The article highlighted results of a MetroFile-conducted

survey of 200 management executives that found that the vast majority (90%) of businesses in South Africa continue to store original paper documents, although many also work with electronic documents. Kimble noted that this isn’t surprising, considering most organizations do not take the time to focus on a records management strategy that considers the vast number of legislated and regulatory requirements.

Paper records management is just part of doing business in South Africa, he said. In fact, the survey found that 75% of respondents store the original paper documents on site, while 45% scan documents as backup.

Assessment Guide

Designed Exclusively for PRISM International Members KirkpatrickPrice. | innovation. integrity. delivered. 1.2012

New Risk Assessment Guide Exclusively designed for PRISM International members, the new Risk Assessment Guide by Kirkpatrick Price provides a risk-assessment table to help organizations identify vulnerabilities and potential threats to their organization’s data and IT system. The matrix is broken down by

• function (storing, transporting, and handling records and information)

• type of threat (confidentiality, availability, integrity) and vulnerability of threat

• risk importance and risk likelihood • control recommendation. The guide is available for download at www.prismintl.org

under the “Privacy+ certification” tab. Learn to assess how risks ranging from malicious hacker attacks and user error to adverse weather events and natural disasters are affecting your data and IT system. For questions on the guide, contact Jennifer Velazquez at jvelazquez@prisimintl.org. n

We’d Love to Hear from You!

If you have questions or comments about anything you read in inFocus, please send them to info@prismintl.org. We also encourage readers to submit article ideas for future inFocus issues.

16

PRISM International