Study reveals attitudes to records management across Europe

October 6th, 2008 - London, UK - A European document management study commissioned by Iron Mountain [http://www.ironmountain.co.uk/index.asp] has revealed that UK firms are more likely to have their records stored off-site compared to their German and French counterparts, of which 11 percent and 29 percent of firms surveyed, respectively, admitted to similar practices, compared to 42 percent in the UK.

The study examines differing attitudes towards the outsourcing of records management in the three markets and highlights the differences in attitudes towards how companies deal with their physical records.

UK firms cite the fact that speed of access is one of the principal reasons for storing records on-site, and 90 percent of German firms that took part in the study stated that having closer control was a primary reason for keeping records management work on-site.

The study also examined trends within the legal, insurance and consulting sectors in the three countries and highlighted the differences in attitudes regarding records management. In all of the countries, the consultancy sector (87 percent) preferred to keep active documents on-site and the financial sector was the most concerned over the price of outsourcing.

Overall, however, cost is revealed as a minor concern when compared with enhancing security, accessibility and control.  In terms of importance, lowering costs is mentioned by less than 50 percent of survey respondents in comparison to 89 percent who indicate that providing a high level of security and protection is of the utmost importance. 

It is clear that companies that do choose a third party to manage their records expect a high level of data security, reliable and rapid response to special customer demands and fast access to documents. The study shows that security, conformity and response speed are more important considerations to firms than price.

Third party data management data solutions providers need to demonstrate that they can deliver the secure administration of physical documents as well as digital business data and data storage media but in a way that is tailored to individual customer needs.

Key Findings

92 percent of UK respondents cite ease and speed of access as the main reasons for keeping their records on-site
80 percent of UK respondents keep their active records on-site
83 percent of German firms surveyed prefer to keep their records on-site
80 percent of documents kept on site by UK firms that were surveyed are classed as ‘active’
87 percent of consultancies assessed kept active documents on site (the highest proportion of all sectors examined)