If your organization were the target of litigation or a regulatory investigation, you’d likely be required to produce financials, customer records, contracts and related documentation, right?

Not so fast.

All of those e-mails zipping through your messaging system would also be subject to scrutiny. That’s right: you would be forced to sift through all of the forwarded jokes, gossip, lunch invitations and other purely social messages to find those relating to the legal or regulatory issue in question. Worse yet, this process could yield messages that might prove damaging to your organization.

A comprehensive e-mail retention policy coupled with an effective e-mail archival solution can help mitigate these risks. By establishing best practices and implementing the right technology tools, organizations can ensure the successful management of e-mail business records, reduce e-discovery costs, improve productivity and enhance security.

Unfortunately, too few organizations have such policies and procedures in place, waiting instead for an e-discovery or regulatory request before even thinking about e-mail retention and archival. This reactionary approach can prove very costly.

What Is a ‘Business Record?’

A recent study conducted by the Association of Record Managers and Administrators (ARMA) International reveals that a large majority of records management professionals feel unprepared when it comes to e-mail management (72 percent) and e-discovery (68 percent). The study also found that 62 percent of respondents lack an e-mail archiving system.

It’s important to remember, however, that implementation of an e-mail archival solution is the final hurdle. An effective e-mail management strategy begins with the development of an e-mail retention policy. Given that only 34 percent of organizations have a formal e-mail retention policy in place, according to the ePolicy Institute, additional education is clearly needed.

The first step is to define, from a legal and regulatory perspective, what constitutes an electronic business record. This clearly written definition helps the organization distinguish messages involving business-related activities and transactions from insignificant and purely personal e-mails.

Once this definition is in place, the organization should make sure that every employee knows what kinds of messages must be retained, and understands his or her role in the organization’s overall e-mail retention strategy. Because e-mail is generated throughout the organization, e-mail retention practices cannot focus on the IT department. All employees must take part in the archival of business-related e-mails and the purging of extraneous messages.

Processes, Training and Automation

Next, organizations should establish the policies and procedures necessary to ensure compliance with legal and regulatory e-mail retention rules. The e-mail retention policy should also address business requirements and risks, and be updated regularly as laws change and new technologies are adopted. In addition to establishing e-mail retention processes, organizations should define electronic business record lifecycles and delete messages as they become outdated.

Employees throughout the organization should receive training on how to comply with the formal e-mail retention policy. This training should stress that policy compliance is mandatory. Enforcement through disciplinary action and technology tools not only helps ensure effective e-mail management but illustrates to courts and regulators that the organization is serious about its e-mail retention obligations. Demonstrated consistency increases the odds of a favorable ruling should the organization become embroiled in an e-discovery dispute.

E-mail archival solutions play two key roles. First, these technology tools reduce e-discovery costs and help ensure policy compliance by automating e-mail archival processes. E-mail business records are preserved in a way that enables structured searches for rapid compliance with e-discovery and regulatory requests as well as day-to-day business operations.

Second, e-mail archival tools help ensure that e-mail business records meet evidentiary requirements. Because e-mail must be authentic, trustworthy and tamperproof to be considered legally valid, e-mail archival solutions should encrypt messages and protect against the deletion or alteration of archived e-mail.

Business Benefits

E-discovery is typically touted as the primary reason for establishing an e-mail retention policy and archival solution. Without effective e-mail management, organizations face incredibly expensive and time-consuming e-discovery challenges as well as the potential for costly court sanctions if they fail to meet e-discovery deadlines.

Regulatory requirements also compel organizations to get a handle on e-mail. Sarbanes-Oxley, HIPAA and the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act all require the preservation, protection and control of business records, with the potential for huge fines and civil and criminal liability for non-compliance. Other government and industry regulations may also come into play.

However, effective e-mail management can provide organizations with a number of key benefits. E-mail is not always a “smoking gun” — in fact, e-mail can often be used to protect the organization from legal liability. The ability to produce the right e-mail records at the right time helps win lawsuits, and may even compel an opponent to settle out of court. E-mail business records also help document transactions and personnel matters and aid in decision-making.

Given today’s litigious environment and increased regulatory scrutiny, organizations face significant e-mail-related risks. Organizations of all sizes need an e-mail retention policy and automated e-mail archival solution to help speed the retrieval of e-mail records related to a legal claim. Effective e-mail management also helps ensure compliance with government and industry regulations and facilitates day-to-day business activities. E-mail is not a simple communication tool but rather a key component of any organization’s business records.