Program Design: The IM Framework
What is it?
Program design is developing (or perfecting) the framework around which your IM program is structured, and includes all stages in the information life cycle, from creation to disposition. IM program design includes policies, procedures, and tools (e.g. metadata, business rules for retention and disposition, etc.) to clearly articulate how information is to be organized, secured, stored, accessed, retained and preserved.
Who is it for?
Any organization seeking to create, expand or fine-tune its IM Program or formal practices for managing information. Designing your IM framework means applying the discipline of records and information best practices to how your organization handles documents, records, and information regardless of physical format (paper, digital/electronic or microform).
What results can I expect?
Depending on your specific needs, we will deliver any (or all) of a wide array of tools that will be the basis of your IM program. These tools fall into five general categories:
- Information governance: IM accountability, policies, and job descriptions
- Information organization: Classification schemes, taxonomy, metadata, file naming conventions
- Information storage, retention and disposition: Records appraisal (identifying operational, fiscal, legislated/regulatory and historical requirements for retaining information), records retention schedules, secure storage and disposition
- Information security: Information security classification, vital records identification and protection, disaster recovery planning, legal (or information) hold protocol for e-discovery
- Information preservation: Archival records identification and management
Service At a Glance
We will create (or fine-tune) any of the tools, business processes, reference materials and other core elements you need to apply best practices to the lifecycle management of your organization’s recorded information.
Key Terms: information governance, policies, procedures, job descriptions, classification schemes and other structures for organizing information, records retention schedules, records storage, information security classifications, legal holds, vital records, disaster recovery planning, archives
Case in Point
Click for a description of a representative Program Design project.
Case in Point: “The Right Tools for the Job”
A large municipal agency had well-established requirements for managing its core operational records; however, the few requirements for managing records of non-core or ‘business’ activities (e.g. facilities management, procurement, etc.) were not widely known or used. Consequently, we were engaged to conduct a needs assessment and develop a RIM strategy for the future management of those records.
In the second phase of the project, we were retained to assist the agency in implementing the strategy by developing a records classification scheme, a records retention schedule, and various policies and procedures such as a policy on retaining records and procedures for operating a new, in-house record centre.
Implementation of the IM Program enabled the agency to begin improving and standardizing its management of non-core/business records.