May 2004

Technical Support Analyst of the Quarter
Jason Klinger

The Technical Analyst of the Quarter for first quarter 2004 is Jason Klinger. He is seen here getting his head shaved for a recent charity event. Congratulations Jason!!!!

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Advisor’s Corner
Susie Chapman

Hello again everyone! This month I am addressing an important topic dealing with security and Alchemy Server. By default the services for Alchemy Server run as “LocalSystem”. Looking at the Services Applet in Windows, this is what the Alchemy Server Service looks like:

Notice the column labeled “Log On As” and see that the value for Alchemy Server is “LocalSystem”. Now consider the possibility of having your databases located on a different drive or machine. The LocalSystem account for the Alchemy Server machine will not have sufficient privileges to access the files for the database, so you will need to assign the Log On As account to a domain user account. Right clicking on Alchemy Server allows us to do just that by clicking on Properties.

In this case we choose the “This Account” option and either fill in the user name or browse using the “Browse…” button, enter the password, and press Apply.

Next, we need to make sure we have the proper permissions to access the databases that are located on a different machine. Navigate to the database location and check the security permissions, adding the “Log On As” User to the permissions with full control.

Right clicking on the folder and going to properties, I can add the “Log On As” user to the Security permissions and give them full control.

See you next month!

Getting Started With Electronic Records Management
Jesse Wilkins

Organizations are creating more information every year, and are increasingly required to keep this information for longer periods of time. This is good for the document management industry, as more organizations turn to document imaging to replace paper, but electronic records can be more difficult to manage than their paper or film counterparts.

Cohasset and Associates recently released a survey, jointly sponsored by ARMA and AIIM, on electronic records management practices. The survey was sent out to more than 2,200 records and information management professionals, and the results were sobering. Some of the findings included:
- 38% follow records retention schedules either "not regularly" or "when time permits"
- 47% do not include electronic records in retention schedules
- 59% do not have a formal email retention policy
- 70% do not have a records migration plan
- 62% are either "not at all confident" or "slightly confident" that they can demonstrate the accuracy and reliability of their electronic records management processes later

There are four principles behind electronic records management. These are:
1. Records must be retained in accordance with records retention schedules
2. Retention schedules for records that impact litigation must be held indefinitely
3. Proactive measures must be taken to preserve accessibility to electronic records
4. IS/IT must be involved to successfully perform electronic records management

Electronic records are more complex and more fragile than their paper and film counterparts. While analog records can survive extended periods of benign neglect, electronic records that are not actively managed may be inaccessible in as little as five years. Historically, managing this information has fallen to IT, who owns the systems that create these records. However, the Cohasset survey indicates that most IS/IT professionals do not understand the principles of records management. This can be a critical issue for an organization facing litigation.

Managing electronic records can be accomplished through standard records management best practices. The first step is to conduct an inventory of the organization's electronic records. Records may be created and/or stored on individual PCs, networked servers, and even on PDAs.

A thorough inventory will set the stage for the next step, managing the records. Records, like most information objects, have a particular lifecycle, from creation, to declaration, to use and management, to disposition. Processes must be put into place to ensure the accuracy and reliability of electronic records, including audit trails and plans to migrate electronic records periodically to new media, new applications, and new formats. A note about email - email that is being managed simply by deleting all email older than a particular date or over a certain mailbox size is not being managed at all and can lead to questions of whether needed records will be available when required.

Finally, when the records are at the end of the lifecyle, they may be destroyed. This can be quite involved because simply deleting the record may leave myriad copies on storage servers, in different hidden areas of the operating system, and on backup tapes, all of which may be discoverable.

Records management is about managing information regardless of the media. Whether paper or electronic, records must be managed appropriately. Setting up an electronic records management program can be time consuming, difficult, and costly. But in an era when CEOs go to jail for violating SEC rules, Sarbanes-Oxley, and other regulations, failing to manage electronic records properly can be even more costly.

Alchemy.ini…..Where did ya go??
Jason Klinger

Some of you may have noticed that the Alchemy.ini is no longer in the usual Windows / WINNT directory. With the new release of Alchemy, 7.6 (build 225), the Alchemy.ini file is located in the user profile folder under \Documents and Settings\<username>\Local Settings\Application Data\Imr\Alchemy\, where <username> is the name of each Alchemy user with logon rights to the Alchemy Build machine.

Alchemy Training:

Learn more about Alchemy Software products from IMR Certified Instructors. IMR's Educational Services team is pleased to offer 2 of our advanced technical Training Courses geographically near you. The courses being offered are designed to inspire innovative solutions utilizing all of the exciting new features and product extensions just released by IMR.


Alchemy Training Schedule