Records Management in SharePoint

Records management, like many of the acronyms associated with enterprise content management (ECM), can be executed in a number of different ways. SharePoint has continued to advance records management capabilities since the last release. Records management must truly begin at the business level and be carefully governed. Before determining how to use the Records Center, workflow, and notifications, the following questions should be answered:

• What is (and often more important, what is not) a record?

• What are the stages and lifecycle of the record?

• What are the critical requirements for the proper management of the record?

Only after these basic questions are understood at a detailed level can technology begin to enable records management within an organization. That said, once those questions have been answered, SharePoint can provide valuable tools to simplify and improve the management of business-critical records within the organization.