Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
your. transactions. either. for. their. own. business. or. inancial.
records,.or.online.in.comments.or.reviews.
It. is. more. likely. that. you. established. yourself. electronically.
and.are.using.all.of.the.wonderful.electronic.business.tools.avail-
able. to. you.. Thereby. you. are. creating. electronic. data. all. day.
every. day. which. will. be. important. to. you. in. keeping. records.
of.your.inances,.proits.and.losses,.expenses,.payroll,.beneits,.
intellectual.property,.contracts,.provisioning,.ordering,.manufac-
turing,.shipping,.retail.and.wholesale.costs,.pricing,.and.so.forth.
No. matter. what. your. business,. you. will. likely. be. subject.
to. records. retention. rules. and. accounting. records. require-
ments.. And. as. noted. before,. anyone. can. end. up. in. court.
under. a. myriad. of. circumstances,. all. of. which. will. require.
you. to. understand. your. electronically. stored. information,.
know.where.it.lives,.who.has.control.of.it,.and.how.to.access,.
retrieve,.and.store.it.in.a.forensically.sound.manner.
Any.organization.that.buys.and.sells.using.credit.cards,.for.
instance,.is.subject.to.the.Payment.Card.Industry.(PCI).stan-
dards.. These. include. requirements. around. how. and. where.
you.store.and.transport.your.customer's.electronic.credit.card.
information..There.are.numerous.other.regulations,.depend-
ing. on. the. type. of. organization,. with. similar. requirements..
So,.it.is.not.just.for.the.sake.of.being.prepared.for.litigation.
that. one. should. understand. electronic. data,. but. to. comply.
with.regulations.
And.inally,.every.business.no.matter.its.size.or.sector.must.
manage.its.records.well.in.order.to.be.eficient.and.proitable.
If.you.do.not.have.a.good.records.management.process.
and.policy.in.effect,.you.do.not.have.the.very.foundation.of.all.
business.management.and.practice..Everything.we.discussed.
before.now.can.be.either.enhanced.or.degraded.based.entirely.
on. the. quality. of. that. basic. foundation. of. records. manage-
ment..It.cannot.be.stated.strongly.enough.how.important.a.
high-quality.records.management.process.is.to.any.business,.
and.the.new.world.of.electronic.data.that.surrounds.us.adds.
to.the.complexity.and.challenge.and.especially.to.the.impor-
tance.of.those.practices.
