Execution, Automation, and Training
Document and data disposition
Save the right information for the right amount of time.
How we help
Ongoing over-accumulation of electronic and paper information drives up costs, increases risks, and hurts employee productivity. We unite policies, processes, and technology to help organizations dispose of low-value, unneeded information and prevent further accumulation.
A smart, real-world approach to legacy document and data disposition enables organizations to tame growing piles of unneeded information (and cut costs in the process). We help you evaluate existing email, file, and paper information and develop defensible and standardized deletion processes.
Explore our document and data disposition services
Legacy File and Email Remediation
Develop and execute strategy to identify and defensibly delete older, non-record files and emails.
Paper Records Inventory and Cleanup
Offsite Storage Vendor Audit and Agreement Restructuring
Related resources
What We Do
Our document and data disposition services
While the amount of email, files, and paper records that can be defensibly deleted depends on the age and size of the organization and past and current practices, most organizations significantly over-retain information. Generally, anywhere from 40% to 80% of emails, 30% to 60% of files and unstructured information, and 20% to 80% of paper records can be defensibly disposed of. This deletion requires a focused approach.
We utilize proven strategies used by organizations across industries to help you address information over-retention.
Legacy File and Email Remediation
We help you develop and execute a strategy to identify and defensibly delete older, non-record files and emails.
Our file remediation processes begin with an assessment of the existing unstructured data repository to understand where unstructured data is being stored, what types of active records are stored there, and what portion of existing files and unstructured information is low business value, duplicative, or expired records. From this, we develop a File Configuration and Deletion Decision Matrix which incorporates user behaviors, volume/size, type, and age of current email. Based on the desired future state, we develop programmatic and user-based disposition strategies along with file retention audit processes. This allows for demonstrably defensible deletion.
Our email remediation process includes engaging key stakeholders to understand current practices (including the volume of older, unneeded files and emails being retained, whether these emails contain records, and whether any are under legal hold) and identify email management requirements. Through the creation of an Email Configuration and Deletion Decision Matrix, we identify categories for measuring records currently being retained only in email, user behaviors, volume/size, type, and age of current email. Based on the desired future state, we develop programmatic and user-based disposition strategies along with email retention audit processes.
Assessment
Focused on key areas including policies, processes, procedures, data retention and disposition, ongoing management, information protection, and litigation readiness, the assessment produces a detailed maturity model that identifies current state, target state, and the activities and resources to address gaps between the two.
We define right-sized, target maturity for multiple program components based on your organization’s size, regulatory and compliance obligations, litigation profile, volume and sensitivity of personal information, geographic footprint, culture, and business needs.
Strategic Roadmap
Based on the targeted maturity level, the final, highly customized strategic roadmap details what activities should be accomplished in what order or in which time period, synchronizing with existing business, IT or other initiatives.
A divide-and-conquer strategy breaks the effort into manageable steps over time, with “quick wins” along the way that showcase program benefits and foster support from sponsors. Early victories build momentum and buy-in throughout the process, in contrast to a single win at the end of a prolonged project.
Stakeholder Engagement and Presentation to Senior Management
Throughout the process, we engage cross-functional key stakeholders including legal, privacy, compliance, IT, InfoSEC, data governance and business units, building support and joint ownership for information governance initiatives. We also work to align the program with company culture, implementing best practices within the existing functioning of the organization.
Working closely with project sponsors and key stakeholders, we communicate concise findings and recommendations to senior management detailing the program’s needs and justification.
Paper Records Inventory and Cleanup
We inventory, classify, and institute defensible disposition processes for onsite and offsite paper records.
Through paper records inventory and cleanup, we develop standard processes and procedures for record owners, records managers, and teams to inventory and dispose of existing collections of inactive paper records.
We begin with a recommended plan for conducting a paper records inventory, including processes, forms/worksheets, instructions/job aids, and training materials. An inventory is crucial for determining what paper records a company has, both onsite and at offsite storage vendors, and how many of these are expired and inactive.
Defensible, standardized, and easy-to-follow paper disposition processes allow for scalability, where it is not necessary to review every document in every folder to have a compliant disposition process.
A pilot on-site triage and disposition exercise allows employees to understand and implement the retention records schedule as it applies to inactive paper records. This includes the organization of boxed records for retention according to the retention periods and the destruction of paper records no longer needed for any legal or business purpose.
Fractional records manager staffing is also available to help execute processes.
Offsite Storage Vendor Audit and Agreement Restructuring
We audit and restructure offsite record storage agreements and ensure contract adherence.
We assist organizations with storage vendor audit and agreement restructuring to ensure that billing is accurate and in line with contract terms, expired records are removed and destroyed in a timely manner, and costs are minimized.
Detecting invoice errors requires specialized skills, detailed knowledge of contract provisions, and sometimes even a legal background as contracts need to be matched to multi-page invoices containing itemized details. Vendor invoicing practices can make it challenging to check for accuracy and contract compliance (for example, box management activity is billed in arrears and storage is billed in advance, and both are on the same invoice). Internally, conducting an audit can be time-consuming and complex: for some customers, one department may manage billing, others may request records retrieval, and another may be responsible for ensuring expired records are destroyed. Unless these groups are in close communication, it can be difficult to audit bills and ensure invoices are correct. The result is that erroneous invoices are simply paid without review or scrutiny.
We help organizations analyze and audit offsite records storage vendor contracts against actual usage to identify overbilling or overpayment. We help organizations assess current and future offsite paper retention needs in order to favorably restructure agreements and reduce offsite storage costs.
Connect with a member of the Contoural team to learn more about our information governance consulting services.
As an independent provider, Contoural does not sell or resell any products, take product referral fees, or provide discovery services such as matter-specific document identification, document collection, or document review. Our advice is based solely on the needs of our clients and is not driven by the sale of products.