5 Steps to Achieve Regulatory Compliance with Enterprise Content Management

Preparing for an audit can be time consuming and stressful. With fines upwards of $1 million dollars, failing an audit puts your business at risk both legally and financially. Prepare your organization and get ahead of the game with an enterprise content management (ECM) solution! ECM software stores all your business-critical documents in a single and secure platform, while still allowing for immediate access to information. Equipped with dynamic features such as retention scheduling, audit trails, and automated workflows, with ECM software your business will achieve regulatory compliance year-round.

Let’s take a look at 5 steps to achieve regulatory compliance with enterprise content management:

1. Securing & Protecting Data: With a proper ECM solution in place, users can work worry-free knowing their most critical documents are stored in a secure and compliant file system location. Access control and user-based permissions give administrators full power over user authorization into the system. This includes individual access rights to specific archives and documents. Permissions given to users can be customized based on the ability to add, modify, delete, or even view an archive or document.
2. Document Retention Scheduling: Establishing a proper document retention policy within your enterprise content management system can reduce legal risks and liabilities. A retention schedule ensures documents are stored for the proper amount of time in accordance with government or industry regulations. This process makes certain that documents are easily accessible when necessary and are automatically removed from the system when they reach their end of life.
3. Setting Company Wide Processes & Policies: The laws and regulations in association with business compliance are continually being updated and expanded. It is the responsibility of companies to be aware and proactive. Therefore, it is crucial that company-wide processes and policies are put in place and remain in compliance. Some key processes to include is to ensure that all documents are properly stored and  information is not being shared with unauthorized users. One way ECM software helps is with its redaction tool, which allows users to blackout sensitive data and information.
4. Classifying Data for Audits: Document classification automatically identifies the document being processed through predefined attributes and applies the correct template for data extraction and identification. Once a document is scanned into the system, it is automatically filed in the appropriate location based on its template. By leveraging barcodes or optical character recognition (OCR) technology, critical information can be instantly extracted off classified documents eliminating the redundancy and errors associated with manual data entry.
5. Document History & Increased Visibility: Locating documents has never been easier! With all documents being stored on a single platform, users can instantly locate documents using any combination of keywords or phrases from anywhere at any time. Additionally, the audit trail is a pivotal feature in any document management system as it records each time a user accesses, views, or edits a document. This allows managers, and even more important, auditors, insight into employee and document activity.

What are you waiting for? Audits are becoming more prevalent with new regulations and policies being added every year. Get your business on track by increasing regulatory compliance with Square 9’s award-winning GlobalSearch enterprise content management software. Schedule a demo to learn more about Square 9’s solutions or visit square-9.com for more information!