Highmark Inc. is a national, diversified health care partner serving over 5 million members across the United States through its businesses in health insurance, dental insurance, vision care, and reinsurance. Prior to engaging Zasio Enterprises, Highmark did not have a formal records management program. Records were being managed from one department to another and in most instances, everything was being retained permanently, including email. Even when not required by a specific regulation, both the paper and electronic versions of the same record were retained. A listing of record series and their retention periods existed for offsite storage, however, destruction was never authorized. Needless to say, this made recordkeeping very costly and a risk-nightmare.

To establish a records management strategy that would ensure all its records were managed in accordance with business, legal, and regulatory requirements, Highmark Inc. partnered with Zasio Enterprises to implement Versatile Retention™, Zasio’s robust retention schedule management and research solution.

Objectives

Highmark needed a tool that could:

• Implement an enterprise-wide records management program complete with governing policies
• Create a records retention schedule
• Design an all-employee records management training course
• Provide direction in procuring an electronic records management solution

Implementing Versatile Retention

Zasio consultants conducted extensive interviews across the enterprise to tailor Zasio’s scalable retention management solution, Versatile Retention, that would remedy the issues and best fit Highmark’s diverse business needs. They met with Highmark’s high-level stakeholders, as well as departmental subject matter experts. These information-gathering sessions enabled Zasio to develop the following solutions:

• A corporate records management policy applicable to all formats of records
• A process-based retention schedule that applied business, legal, and regulatory retention requirements
• A uniform retention period for all email
• A training course that was added to mandatory corporate training for all employees, including new hires
• Unbiased and impartial assistance with creating an RFP for an automated electronic records management solution
• A top-to-bottom records management program complete with policies, processes, and roles necessary to manage the program independently

Results

Through Zasio’ s guidance, Highmark successfully procured and implemented Versatile Retention that effectively applies Highmark’s retention schedule, manages legal holds, and issues disposition for over 2 billion structured and unstructured electronic records.

Highmark was more than pleased with the Zasio partnership and implementation of Versatile Retention, as positive results were immediate:

• The new retention schedule consisted of 373 consolidated record series, compared to the over 4000 record series reported to offsite storage
• Offsite paper destruction was implemented, reducing the inventory by 67%
• A 3-year uniform retention period for all email was adopted; over 100 terabytes were deleted, saving $433,000 in yearly storage costs
• 100% of the employees participated in records management training and they all passed a required test assessment

The post Consulting Services Case Study: Highmark Inc. appeared first on Zasio.

The City of Kodiak serves more than 6,000 residents in Kodiak, Alaska. In 2003, the City Clerk started to work on a comprehensive management system at the direction of the City Council. They were in need of a solution that could consolidate processes and manage their electronic and physical records efficiently. In 2005, an independent consultant working with the City Clerk recommended Zasio for the company’s robust technology solution offerings that addressed each of the outlined needs. Since the start of the partnership, the two entities have implemented a solution that takes into consideration the intricate needs of the growing City.

Objectives

• • Routinely update the records retention schedule
  • Consolidate the process and needs for managing content across all departments
  • Implement a technology solution that would be simple to use for the varying levels of technical knowledge within the different departments
  • Capture all records, including electronic documents and emails
  • Easily organize and track location of physical records in multiple buildings and locations

“As a records manager I have used and trained other staff to become users of Versatile Enterprise and Versatile Electronic Records Management System (ERMS). The document management system is a wonderful tool. I have been very impressed with many aspects of the software. The electronic records management component is integrated well with Versatile Enterprise. The ability to manage each paper and electronic record’s lifecycle from creation to destruction is phenomenal! If you need a document management system, I highly recommend using Versatile Enterprise and Versatile ERMS.”

 -Michelle Shuravloff-Nelson, CMC Deputy Clerk/Records Manager at The City of Kodiak

Solution

To address the immediate needs of the City, Zasio recommended and implemented Versatile Enterprise™. The leading records and document management solution was the perfect tool to take on all of the information stored in electronic and physical form by each department, as well as create a dynamic retention schedule that was both streamlined and easy to use. Versatile Enterprise’s intuitive user interface and functionality allowed the City to use minimal technology resources and ensured that users with varying degrees of experience and ability to interact with technology software felt comfortable with the new system. Zasio’s team of experts worked with key City personnel, including the City Clerk’s office, Information Systems, and other departments to ensure:

• • Smooth implementation
  • Accurate migration of legacy information
  • Thorough training
  • Efficiency and consistency across the organization

Results

In partnering with Zasio, the City of Kodiak saw impressive results, including:

• • The ability to track over 100,000 physical records in one technology solution
  • Easily searchable 324GB electronic file storage database, providing quick access to all electronic records
  • A consistent records retention schedule across all City departments
  • Ability to work in all user environments utilized across the City’s infrastructure
  • Flexibility for growth as the City’s use and needs expanded
  • Confidence with a solution that provided all the physical requirements along with a support team that would be there for future guidance

The post Versatile Enterprise™ Case Study: The City of Kodiak appeared first on Zasio.

We understand why you might choose cloud email apps. We also know you need to keep your emails compliant. That’s why we added support for Outlook 365 to Versatile Electronic Records Management System (ERMS), our powerful electronic records management system. ERMS is an add-on to Versatile Enterprise, our flagship records management solution. Combined, the products give you complete control over the lifecycle of your records—and you’ll stay in-check with IG standards.

ERMS retains its robust integration with local Outlook clients, and now you can capture emails from Outlook 365 too. When you integrate ERMS with Office 365, you can pick Outlook 365 folders to sync with the ERMS repository. This means that retention and destruction are automatically applied. It also means there’s no more guesswork when it comes to your email retention policies. ERMS makes it easy to classify emails as records by tapping into the way you already organize emails in folders. There’s no need to classify them from memory. And if collaboration causes you headaches, ERMS can fix that too. Your team can share, search, and link emails from a central repository.

Of course, ERMS doesn’t only deal with emails. We handle it all: word processing documents, spreadsheets, PDFs, and scanned images are just some examples.

We can empower you to manage your physical and electronic records—from creation to disposal. If you need a new, complete solution to manage electronic records, we have the whole package. If you use Versatile Express or Professional for your physical records and need to manage electronic records, think about an upgrade to Versatile Enterprise with ERMS.

Contact us today for a free demo. We can show you how Versatile ERMS can organize, store, and secure your electronic records.

Disclaimer: The purpose of this post is to provide general education on Information Governance topics. The statements are informational only and do not constitute legal advice. If you have specific questions regarding the application of the law to your business activities, you should seek the advice of your legal counsel.

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