Peer to Peer Magazine

WWW.ILTANET.ORG 17 MOBILE METADATA CHECKLIST Here is a checklist of key elements to look for in a mobile metadata management solution. • Hybrid Solution: Ideally your existing solution will also have a mobile solution. This is important for two reasons: With the same cleaning engine, you will get the same results Your desktop and mobile solution will work together to ensure that documents in email messages are only cleaned once (e.g., email messages cleaned on the desktop need not be cleaned again when forwarded from a mobile device) • Integration with Exchange: Your new solution should be an integral part of your Exchange server rather than a separate server checking email messages after Exchange has processed them. This minimizes the risk of problematic email messages bringing down the system and means no additional servers to manage. • Synchronization of Email: Email messages sent from mobile devices and tablets must be synced with your Sent Items folder to give you immediate access to and proof of what was sent and when. Relay servers queue email messages for delivery so you do not know when they were sent, and there is no synchronization with your Sent Items folder. • Interaction with Email or Cleaning Policies: Users are accustomed to modifying the cleaning policies on desktop versions of metadata management solutions. Your mobile solution should also allow users to decide about cleaning policies based on the business context. Keeping mobile metadata challenges in mind and implementing these suggestions will help you protect your firm and clients and provide a positive user experience. Invisible Dangers Beyond the obvious metadata in documents, be on the lookout for these hidden dangers: • Invisible Text: White text on a white background can be initially invisible to the reader, but selecting the text and changing the color allows it to be read. Watch out! • Embedded Objects: When you copy part of an Excel spreadsheet into a document, you are (often unknowingly) embedding the entire spreadsheet. Double-clicking the embedded file will expose the contents of the spreadsheet to the reader. Copy and paste with care! • Improper Redaction: Many document authors persist in redacting text and images using a masking technique. Placing a black box or rectangle over text is not the same as redacting. The covered text can easily be exposed by the reader. Remember to redact properly! • Document Automation: Law firms use document assembly tools to automatically fill in template variables when creating contracts and letters. In many cases, fields added to the document can have hidden metadata associated with them that remain in the document when transmitted outside your organization. Don't go on autopilot! Mobile devices do not introduce new or different metadata types to be removed from documents. It is the workflow that has changed.

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