Susan, if you are like us, generally the issue has less to do with long
term preservation, and more to do with getting people to delete stuff
because, after all, "storage is cheap". Of course, storage is cheap - but
managing all of the "stuff" is not. Here is a link to the powerpoint
presentation we do:

https://web.multco.us/sites/default/files/records/documents/desktop_records_management_v9.pdf


If you go to slide 8, you'll see a graph we obtained from BarkleyBlair.com
(which, unfortunately, is no longer available at their website, although
you might check IDC, which is where they got it from). As shown, while the
cost/gb has dropped exponentially, the cost of storage hardware has not,
and the cost of software managing that hardware has increased. Why? - if
the cost/gb (the "raw material") has dropped, so should everything else.

It's because we are offsetting the lowering cost of the storage media by
creating ever increasing amounts of content, and content of increasing size
and complexity. And, this graph does not even include the cost of software
to manage that content; simply the cost of software to manage the storage
hardware. Including that content management cost would be an even more
dramatic illustration.

Then add in the staff time - according to a Butler Group study cited in ECM
Connection, June 1, 2011, 10% of a company's salary costs and a quarter of
its staff time can be "frittered away by employees looking for
information".

Then you have the issue of non-record content. Mark Diamond, in an article
"Four Elements of Defensible Deletion Strategy", 11/15/2010 notes that "Between
5 and 35 percent of e-mails are business records and some of the records
exist exclusively in e-mail. In other words, between 95 and 65 percent of
e-mails are not records".

http://www.insidecounsel.com/2010/11/15/four-elements-of-defensible-deletion-strategy

On our presentation, you will also see a piece called the "3 "Cs" of Record
Copy". This is a simple framework for the average user to understand this.
The posted presentation does not include our notes, but the kicker is when
we get to the public access slide: When a public records or discovery
request is made, all available copies are subject to that request. When
retention is applied, only the record copy needs to be maintained, we can
delete all of the other copies. That's the "a-ha!" moment, because it only
stands to reason that the less copies we have to search, the better and
more effective our response will be. This is when we cite a 2006 Multnomah
County Auditor's Report which found that 33% of public records requests
were unsuccessful - we can do better!

All of this hammers in the idea that the true cost of electronic records
management is not in the storage; its in the amount of extraneous stuff we
are maintaining, and the fact that that content is overwhelming our ability
to control it both personally, and as an enterprise. As a consequence, we
start by helping people to understand how to use that most powerful tool
available - the delete key - then we focus on how to manage what is left.
And so far, we are finding that people are "getting this".

-- 
Dwight Wallis, CRM
Multnomah County Records Management Program
1620 SE 190th Avenue
Portland, OR 97233
ph: (503)988-3741
fax: (503)988-3754
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