Digital White Papers

43 WWW.ILTANET.ORG | ILTA WHITE PAPER FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT How Information Governance Initiatives Create Sustainable Cost Containment Negotiating a low fee for a standard delivery will not be helpful if the service parameters do not fit the needs of your staff and result in too many rush delivery charges. While some rush orders are inevitable, incurring them regularly can be avoided. Understanding how practice groups access maer-related documents will lead IG professionals to ask another important question: What documents are being stored electronically and in physical form? Physical Records vs. Electronic Records In your conversations with key decision-makers, find out what each practice group must keep in physical form long-term. During maer review, which documents are helpful to have in physical form and which can live electronically? The majority of maer-related documents now come into firms electronically. Email messages, for example, come to the firm in electronic form and are saved in the document management system. Some email messages are printed if an aorney wishes to have them on hand while the maer is active; later, they will be sent to storage to collect dust. Should the physical form be kept? The goal is not to dictate to shareholders or partners how best to manage files during client engagement but to determine what is most practical for long-term storage and review. While email messages might be useful to have on hand during the engagement, they will be most likely referenced later in their electronic form. Therefore, email messages should live in the document management system, and printed versions should be shredded before the physical file goes to storage. Incorporating similar processes into IG and cost-containment initiatives will help the firm control the growth of storage volumes. Timing and Vendor Incentives Conversations with risk partners can take six months to a year or more, so it is wise to engage management well before your offsite storage contract expires. Easier said than done, right? If you find your offsite storage contract expiring in a few months and discussions still ongoing, review your contract for any auto-renewal clauses so you can avoid being locked into your original contract terms. Once you have engaged management, you can approach the process from an informed position to negotiate favorable terms for your firm. Vendors will oen present firms with incentives, such as offering certain services at a reduced rate or free of charge. These services typically include archival destruction, permanent withdrawal,

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