Properly managing e-mail isn't an easy task

A recent article in NewsFactor Technology News seems to forget the first rule in records retention is CONTENT, not CONTAINER. All decisions for retention of information, irrespective of media, form or format are based on the content of the information.

When an organization develops a retention schedule, they need to determine how they are regulated and what provisions for retention are set by that regulating, governing or other body/agency for their industry.  They would then take into account any business needs for the information that may exceed those required periods and after discussion with legal counsel, determine if there are any risks to retaining the information beyond the required periods.  After weighing those risks, a retention schedule is developed and applied to information which is categorized by a record series.  The final factor is related to the ultimate disposition of the information, and a determination if the information has any potential historic, intrinsic or enduring value to the organization.  If it does, the information is typically transferred to an archive or research center for long-term management. If not, then it is processed for disposal, using appropriate measures to ensure the information doesn't become compromised. 

A common misconception made by people without RIM experience making decisons on managing information in an enterprise is that  to "keep it all" is a good thing.

Good business practice is to maintain a copy of all e-mail in a central repository. Because it is impractical to keep track of all the original copies of e-mail, the recommended method is to keep a copy of all e-mail on the messaging server or alternatively in an e-mail archive system.

Actually, this can be as damaging as not retaining things. The last thing you want to do is save e-mail messages that don't meet the criteria established for a RECORD by your organization in your e-mail management system... and PLEASE, don't call it an ARCHIVE.  If its information that is being stored to satisfy business needs and retention requirements and its periodically accesed, its stored in a REPOSITORY.  Records should be classified based on content and stored by series for the appropriate retention periods.

There's no question that there is a need to properly manage e-mail as a business record when the content rises to the level of a record, but its important to store ONLY what you need to.  Find out the requirements for your business, establish a retention schedule and apply the rules as appropriate.