Large southwestern U.S. university lowers risks of audit failures and decreases operational costs with IBM FileNet P8 solution

A large southwestern U.S. university’s enrollment includes students studying for degrees in 10 academic colleges. The university is dedicated to the discovery, development, communication and application of knowledge in a wide range of academic and professional fields. Its mission of providing the highest quality undergraduate and graduate programs is inseparable from its mission of developing new understandings through research and creativity. The university prepares students to assume roles of leadership, responsibility and service to society. In the twenty-first century, the university seeks to assume a place of preeminence among public universities while respecting its history and traditions.

Overwhelmed by manual records management
The university was faced with the complex challenge of managing millions of division records efficiently while at the same time complying with federal regulations and state law. Office managers, division heads and staff already followed a well-defined records retention schedule which helped keep them heading down the right track, but having a well-defined schedule didn’t prevent human errors, ensure legislative compliance or optimize resources. Most records were still kept in physical boxes and stored in a central library. Each year, records managers spent hundreds of hours visiting the storage library to sift through boxes and determine which records required continued storage and which could be tagged for disposal. Although the university provided training relative to defining a record, where records should be filed and how long they should be kept, the training could not assure consistent records management decision making.

The team identified several common deficiencies in the existing records management system including:

• Excessive man hours required to capture and manage records.
• Audit failure risks resulting from lost records and difficulty in proving policy adherence.
• Delayed policy and retention schedule updates as a result of human management.

The team knew automation would be a key enabler to significantly improving the records management system so they sought a technology solution to help optimize their efficiency in a seamless manner.

Bringing content and business processes together
The university evaluated several records management software solutions and quickly settled on IBM FileNet Records Manager. With an IBM Enterprise Content Management (IBM ECM) platform already in place, Records Manager was the natural next step in automating and streamlining records-based activities at the university.

The university was particularly impressed by the ZeroClick technology of FileNet Records Manager, an innovative solution designed to use processes, events, rules and metadata to invisibly enforce policy throughout the entire records and information lifecycle.

This solution not only helps the university to ensure best-practice records capture and administration, it also minimizes the impact on staff—improving productivity, eliminating errors and reducing costs. Another major advantage is the assurance that employees use the technology because it’s integrated into their daily work routines and invisibly enforced. ZeroClick helps the university bring content and business processes together to facilitate and accelerate information exchange triggered by business or transactional events such as the filing of an electronic document into a folder, or internal and external system events, including updating policy documents or receiving a transaction from another system.

Managing office records
The university, with the help of IBM Lab Services, is now integrating the FileNet Records Manager solution into the following university operations:

• Financial Managed Services (Accounts Payable/Receivable/Inventory)
• Contract Administration
• Student Services
• Card Office
• Purchasing Services
• Vice President’s Office
• Budget and Analytical Services
• Payroll Services

Deploying IBM ECM across these operations enables the university to free up massive amounts of physical storage space, as well as refocus its manpower on more productive activities. And it gives university staff confidence they’re conforming to federal and state requirements. According to the university, “IBM FileNet Records Manager provides us with the ability to automatically tag every record upon receipt. Now, there will be no doubt about policy compliance.”

Achieving cost-effective records management
As a result of its IBM FileNet Records Management implementation, the university:

• Achieved cost-effective records management enforcement and compliance.
• Reduced risk of audit failures as a result of automated management of records lifecycle.
• Lowered operational costs through reduced storage and discovery expenses.
• Improved productivity by automating routine tasks, enabling staff to focus on departmental activities.

For more information
Contact your IBM sales representative or IBM Business Partner, or visit us at:ibm.com/software/data/ecm