Records Management in SharePoint Online Achieves Corporate Compliance

Power & Utilities Industry | United States

A publicly-traded utility company, which provides natural gas and electricity to millions of residents, turned to Access Sciences when it recognized the need to deploy SharePoint’s (SP) records management capabilities due to its widespread use for collaboration, document management, and records storage.

The client had previously designated OpenText Content Server 16 as its official corporate records repository. However, the increasing user demand for its Office 365 platform, Communications including SharePoint Online (SPOL) and Teams, made it clear that the platform must also be used to manage documents through their full lifecycle. The client also recognized that records management policies must be quickly implemented to maintain compliance moving forward.

After gaining a full understanding of the client’s immediate needs and goals, Access Sciences kicked off the project with a carefully selected, dynamic team, equipped with specialized expertise in information governance, technology enablement, and business strategy. In just over three months, the team designed and fully configured the corporate records retention schedule and enterprise taxonomy using the out-of-the-box records management foundation of SPOL.

ISSUE

Needed to meet the corporate compliance requirement which calls for consistent records management policies across all content and collaboration systems.

SOLUTION

Optimized the records management functionality in SPOL and implemented a records foundation.

BENEFITS

Developed a shared understanding of SP’s records management capabilities and how to most effectively use these to meet their compliance requirements.

Reduced the burden of applying records policies to content with the ability to automatically classify records through folder inheritance.

SERVICES DELIVERED

Information Governance Strategy
System Configuration & Implementation
Training & Communications

HERE’S HOW

Access Sciences met the client sponsors face-to-face to kick off the project, introducing a diverse consulting team consisting of technology, information governance, and records experts.
The team presented an approach to maximizing the out-of-the-box capabilities and available licensing models, while ensuring compliance with corporate records requirements. The team provided an estimated project schedule and outlined week-to-week progress communications, emphasizing transparency on all aspects of implementation.
Access Sciences configured the foundational components of SPOL, including the Content Type hub with records policies and the Managed Metadata Service with the enterprise taxonomy terms. The team then prepared a SP site to demonstrate the functionality, seeding the environment with live business documents. The team also associated 7 libraries of 700+ documents with records policies,
applied appropriate permissions and default metadata values, and demonstrated the application of records policies and the supporting foundational information architecture.
Access Sciences provided client team members of various backgrounds with knowledge of how to effectively use the new records management functionality, including best practices and known limitations.
To ease the solution’s hand off to the client’s IT team, Access Sciences delivered hands on training as well as detailed support documentation from Records Management, Power User, and Administrator standpoints.

SUSTAINABLE GOVERNANCE INTO THE FUTURE

Access Sciences’ end goal was to implement a foundation for effective records management within the client’s SP, using the out-of-the box
functionality available through their current licensed environment. By sharing technical and information governance expertise throughout the process and providing in-depth training to the client’s team members, Access Sciences also laid the foundation for sustainable records management and governance into the future.

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