Are you wondering what to do with the boxes of spreadsheets, forecast plans and financial documents stored in your office? Just ask the International Organization for Standardization, which recently published a new guideline for business-records management. ISO 23081-1:2006 enables the long-term storage of business records, while simultaneously allowing them to be used in any application or information system. It’s designed to be used in the framework of ISO 15489, Information and documentation—Records management, and it addresses the relevance of records management metadata in business processes and the different roles and types of metadata that support business and records-management processes. It also sets a framework for managing these metadata.

“ISO 23081-1 clearly shows how an organization can systematically and effectively improve its record keeping, and do so in a way that the business objectives are supported,” says Robert McLean, a member of the ISO subcommittee responsible for archives and records management. “Senior management will be able to identify tangible benefits such as reduced costs and better-managed risks, thereby contributing to better corporate governance.”

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