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PEER TO PEER: THE QUARTERLY MAGAZINE OF ILTA | WINTER 2017
BEST PRACTICES
Finders, Weepers: Uncovering the Hidden Files in Your DMS Before It's Too Late
Finders, Weepers: Uncovering the Hidden
Files in Your DMS Before It's Too Late
In July 2017, DocsCorp surveyed respondents
from different regions around searchability in their
document management systems. We were expecting
to see a portion at risk of having hidden files in their
repositories, but what we didn't expect to see was that a
huge 81 percent of survey respondents couldn't always
find the files they were looking for. And, since 70 percent
of respondents performed 11-26 (or more) search queries
within a single day, people are clearly spending a lot of
time searching for, but not finding, what they need.
The legal industry's hidden file problem is about to get even bigger thanks to new, stricter
regulations with harsh financial penalties for noncompliance.
Hidden Files and the GDPR
Firms in the United States can and will be impacted by
the new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)
taking effect in Europe and the United Kingdom from
May 2018 onward. The regulations will exist to give
citizens greater access to and power over personal data
held by an organization. Any U.S. firm in possession of
a European or U.K. citizen's personal data will need to
be compliant with GDPR's new, stricter rules around
managing that data, irrespective of where in the world
by Dean Sappey
DEAN SAPPEY
Dean Sappey is the President and
co-founder of DocsCorp, a leading
provider of document productivity
tools. Dean holds a Computer
Science degree from the University
of Technology, Sydney, and has
a successful 25-year track record
in developing new products and
technologies.