ZyLAB Survey Finds Records Management Deemed "Mission Critical"; Yet Finding Information Remains a Challenge

Cost and Complexity Identified as Key Barriers to Purchasing Records Management Solutions for both Commercial and Government Organizations

October 4, 2005 - Vienna, VA - ZyLAB, an innovative developer of Information Access Solutions, today announced the findings of two surveys focused on records management. The first survey was given on September 15th to over 150 State & Local government officials during a Webinar sponsored by ZyLAB; the second survey was given to 100 attendees at the ARMA International Annual Conference & Exposition that took place in Chicago on September 18-21st.

The two surveys had several similar findings regarding records management trends and issues. First, both surveys found that the top barriers to purchasing a records management solution were cost and complexity. In both surveys, more than 75 percent of respondents marked cost or complexity as a barrier to entry.

In addition, both surveys found that respondents agree that records management is critical to their organizations. However, in the ZyLAB Webinar survey, approximately 40 percent noted it takes a day or more to find information and in the ARMA survey, an overwhelmingly 80 percent noted it takes a day or more.

Other key findings:

The ZyLAB State & Local Government Webinar Survey:

  • "What do you consider a record?" Almost 100 percent agreed that a record comes in many formats including paper, e-mail, books, microfilm, and so on.
  • "Is Records Management "mission critical" to your organization?" On a scale of 1-4 (4 being the most important), 58 percent marked 4 and 32 percent marked 3 - findings that underscore the perceived importance of having a records management solution in place.
  • "How do you currently store your records?" 44 percent said "file folders on a network drive," 33 percent said "in a database," 20 percent said "in the grey box that sits in the corner," and 3 percent said "other."
  • " "How do you currently retrieve information located within your records?" 41 percent have software that searches and retrieves the information, 44 percent use an administrative assistant or have someone else provide them the information, and the remainder were not sure how to find information other than manually looking for it.
  • "In general, how long do you retain your records?" 50 percent said forever, 31 percent were not sure how long they kept records, and the remaining 19 percent varied on the length records are kept.

ZyLAB/ARMA Survey

  • "How much time do you spend on seeking out information that is located in your records?" 80 percent noted it takes at least a day if not longer to find specific information. 20 percent can find information within an hour.
  • "How long do you retain your records?" 30 percent said forever, 20 percent said 3 years and the remaining 50 percent noted that they have a retention policy.
  • "How do you currently retrieve information located within your records?" 45 percent have software that searches and retrieves the information, 45 percent have an administrative assistant or someone else find the information for them, and the remainder were not sure how to find information other than manually looking for it.
  • "How do you currently store your records?" 55 percent said file folders on a network drive, 35 percent said in a filing cabinet, and the remaining 10 percent said "other."

About ZyLAB
Founded in 1983, ZyLAB is the leading provider of low-cost content management and compliance solutions for small-and-medium-sized business (SMB) and government organizations that need to digitally file and manage millions of pages of paper and electronic documents. ZyLAB's comprehensive investigative capabilities, with its high quality search and retrieval features supporting over 200 languages, gives users the ability to organize and easily share all information online. In particular, ZyLAB solutions are relied upon extensively by legal, law enforcement/intelligence, and financial/back-office professionals.

With over 7,500 installations worldwide and over 350,000 users, ZyLAB has a wide breadth of experience and knowledge across a variety of different industries and business applications. Our clients include such U.S. Government organizations as the FBI, Department of Homeland Security, Department of the Treasury, Department of Justice, SEC, Department of Agriculture, Department of Commerce, IRS, Department of Labor, State Department, Amtrak's OIG, Office of Personnel Management, Department of Defense and all branches of the US military, as well as such well-known companies as the New York Stock Exchange, Pepsico, Pacific Life, and Anheuser-Busch. For more information visit: www.zylab.com - records management.

Media Contact:
Evan Weisel
Welz & Weisel Communications
P: 703-323-6006
evan@w2comm.com