The rash of accounting irregularities and allegations of wrongful document destruction are driving both stronger enforcement of existing regulations, as well as new laws with stronger penalties. One of the most significant of the new laws is the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. This law prescribes a sweeping system of additional federal oversight covering corporate governance and financial practices of publicly traded companies.

An enterprise-wide records management program — for paper, e-mail and electronic records — is an essential part of the sound financial controls and internal policies and procedures your company needs to prove compliance with Sarbanes-Oxley. Failure to produce requested records can lead to senior executives being held personally accountable for this lack of compliance.

To help companies meet this challenge, Iron Mountain has documented the best practices for complying with the records management provisions of Sarbanes-Oxley. In brief, the four pillars
of records management are:

• Consistency — the design and implementation of records retention and destruction policies across media types, geography, and business units
• Accountability — a commitment to records management that establishes leadership and sponsorship, organization-wide performance goals, and tracking measures
• Adoption — formal rollout and training, an ongoing communication plan, and comprehensive reports and reviews
• Accessibility — universal records management systems, easily available to all authorized parties, and following a common process. 

Investing in the four pillars of records management will not only support compliance obligations, but will also help organizations better manage their information assets. In the end, companies will reduce their costs and risks, and have more control over their information.