Records management has become an increasingly important initiative for many organizations as government regulations, such as the U.S. Federal Rules of Civil Procedures and Freedom of Information legislation in different countries, begin to be felt. Demand for records management continues to grow, as this technology is imperative if an organization is to effectively implement an enterprisewide records management program. Records management products are also evolving, as broader retention management requirements grow and as there becomes a need to manage content throughout its entire life cycle. Legal discovery requirements and the need to mitigate litigation risks are also driving the urgency of deploying records management solutions, but the challenges can be substantial. When considering records management, organizations should:

• Identify the specific business objectives for their records management initiative and select the right vendor, as a records management program requires a long-term commitment and the product needs to be compatible with their content management strategy.
• Assess the records management product's capabilities to integrate and extend the records retention policy with other content repositories, e-mail and document archives, and file stores, as well as its search and discovery capabilities.
• Consider records management products with capabilities to support multiple content types and media — physical records such as paper documents and electronic documents which may reside in multiple repositories, and e-mail which may exist in both the e-mail system and e-mail archives.
• Consider the records management product's compliance with country-level standards such as Department of Defense (DOD) Directive 5015.2-STD, The National Archives (TNA), Victorian Electronic Records Standards (VERS) and Model Requirement for the Management of Electronic Records (MoReq).

Records management involves managing document retention and preservation, and reducing the risk of lost content. A good records management system includes people, processes and technology. Industry and government regulations have been early drivers for records management adoption, but discovery as well as risk mitigation have become more important drivers. While highly regulated industries, such as financial services, utilities and pharmaceuticals, have always had records retention requirements, changes in government regulations, such as the U.S. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, have had an impact on companies across all industries, as they are reminded of the need to implement records management to address management and discovery of electronic records, not just paper ones. Freedom of Information legislation, which has proliferated on a global scale, has also increased the level of interest in government organizations for implementing records management initiatives, in order to properly retain appropriate documents so they can be produced as required. In Germany, the Grundsätze zum Datenzugriff und zur Prüfbarkeit digitaler Unterlagen (GDPdU) regulation is also prevalent. This is a regulation for the retention, access and audibility of digital content.

The technology of records management has evolved from the preservation of paper documents to the preservation of electronic documents as well, including a very broad range of content types such as e-mail and instant messaging. Organizations are facing increasing requirements for better management and retention of e-mail. While e-mail active archiving systems support the role-based and event-based retention, records management is still needed for some e-mails that need to be retained as records. Meanwhile, records management products have become an integral component of enterprise content management (ECM) suites. The ability to integrate and declare documents from ECM products is now a prerequisite for records management products. Integration with Microsoft Office is also important, because much of the creation of future business records occurs in this information worker environment. As e-mail and instant messaging become staples of conducting business, records management products must be able to integrate with these infrastructure applications as well. Records management vendors are emphasizing increased integration with e-mail active archiving, compliance and e-discovery applications. As the diversity of applications and content repositories expands, policy-driven records management will become the preferred choice.

Standards have been established in many countries to provide local requirements for records management. These standards include how different record types should be managed, rules for metadata creation, security definitions and implementation guidelines. Many of these standards have released their second versions. Key records management standards include:

• DOD Directive 5015.2-STD — A U.S. standard and certification for records management developed by the Department of Defense. This standard includes a Chapter 2 version and a Chapter 4 version, which detail additional security and classification requirements. The latest version, which records management vendors are now being certified for, is DOD 5015.2-STD version 3.
• TNA — A U.K. standard replacing the older Public Records Office (PRO) standard. A second version — TNA 2 — has also been released.
• Document Management & Electronic Archiving (DOMEA) — A German standard for records management and document management.
• VERS — An Australian standard with records management guidelines. A second edition — VERS 2 — has also been released.
• Electronic Records as Documentary Evidence — A Canadian standard to ensure electronic information in IT systems is recognized as reliable and trustworthy by the Canadian legal system.
• Information & Documentation on Records Management Guidelines (ISO 15489) — The first international standard for the implementation of records management.
• MoReq — A European standard for records management functionality and deployment. A second version — MoReq 2 — has just been published.

These standards also provide a foundation for the evaluation, selection and implementation of records management products. The DOD 5015.2 standard is well-established and has a formal certification process and has become the de facto benchmark for records management products, particularly in the U.S. Gartner recommends that enterprises use the DOD 5015.2-STD 2002, Chapter 2 standard as a key requirement when acquiring any records management product, along with consideration of local standards (see Note 2).

The records management market includes products that apply retention policies for business content, for both paper and electronic documents. Gartner estimates that the worldwide records management market was worth approximately $400 million in software license and maintenance revenue in 2007, an increase of 30% from 2006. This market is forecast to have a five-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 25% between 2008 and 2013. While market growth looks set to remain strong, with the increased adoption of records management, the declining per-seat costs reflect the trend to bundle these products with enterprise content management and archiving systems. Gartner sees strong product demand from large enterprises but also from government and midsize enterprises over the forecast period. Gartner surveys show that 67% of organizations are using records management, but we estimate that fewer than 20% of these are enterprisewide deployments (see Note 1). Large enterprises have found it significantly challenging to deploy records management because of the substantial costs, organizational change management and the complexity of the requirements and efforts needed to implement record plans. As a result, we have adjusted our market forecasts to reflect these slower, but still significant, adoption rates.

The consolidation of the records management market has continued, and three vendors have been acquired or are in the process of being acquired since the previous iteration of this MarketScope:

• Mobius was acquired by ASG in April 2007. While Mobius was a predominantly document and report archiving vendor, it also had a records management product. Its DOD 5015.2 certification has lapsed since the acquisition and has not been included in this MarketScope.
• Meridio was acquired by Autonomy in October 2007. Autonomy is repositioning Meridio to include it as part of its compliance product set.
• In April 2008, Tower Software entered into a prebid agreement to be acquired by HP. The acquisition will strengthen HP's integrated content archiving platform but may not expand Tower Software's records management opportunities.

These products will be increasingly integrated into the organization's content management infrastructure as a service, rather than operating as stand-alone departmental records management systems. However, many enterprises have yet to standardize on a single ECM/integrated document management (IDM) product, and will often have multiple content repositories. A Gartner survey conducted in 4Q07 has shown that over 70% of organizations have six or more content repositories (see Note 1). The ability of records management products to extend their reach through federation with other content management repositories, archives and applications — as well as supporting compliance and discovery — is essential. This MarketScope document analyzes the leading vendors and products that meet our criteria, and rates each one based on our vendor-ratings definition. We also provide an overall market rating using the same definitions.

To be considered for this MarketScope, each records management vendor must meet the following criteria. They must have:

• Revenue of $10 million or more from records management, and ECM products and services.
• Certification for DOD 5015.2-STD (Chapter 2).
• Product functionality that supports records management for electronic documents, paper documents and e-mail.

Several vendors, including ASG and Hyland Software, have been excluded from this MarketScope because, although they may be in the current certification pipeline, their records management products were not DOD 5015.2-STD Chapter 2-certified as of March 2008. We have also excluded vendors that provide records management as a service, such as Iron Mountain, from this MarketScope as the focus is on products implemented in-house.

Overall Market Rating: Promising

Our outlook for organizations investing in records management is promising. While these products continue to expand their functionality, with vendors including records management as a key component of their ECM or IDM suites, the challenges in implementing these applications remain. The overall market demand for records management and viability of vendors is good.

CA Records Manager is a key product for CA's Information Governance Group, which was formed as a result of a recent reorganization. CA Records Manager is complemented by CA Message Manager for e-mail management and archiving, and CA GRC Manager for governance, risk and compliance applications. CA approaches records management from an information governance and compliance perspective, rather than from a content management perspective. As a stand-alone records management product, it has good integration and federation across fileshares and multiple content management platforms including EMC, Interwoven, Open Text (eDocs), Oracle and Microsoft (SharePoint), and archiving platforms including CA Message Manager, Symantec and Autonomy. CA Records Manager has good adoption in the legal market and is diversifying into other verticals, including the government vertical. CA Records Manager holds the distinction of being the first records management product to be certified for U.S. DOD 5015.2-STD Chapter 2 version 3. CA brings strong records management expertise to the market, including experienced consulting services to deliver these solutions, along with compliance and discovery. CA is a good fit for those organizations that are considering records management but would like to be independent of an enterprise content management platform.

Rating: Strong Positive

EMC's Documentum Records Manager is part of the core Documentum platform and provides "formal" records management that adheres to U.S. DOD 5015.2-STD guidelines. Documentum Retention Policy Services (RPS) is a server-based component that provides for the "informal" or "simple" management of records. Physical Records Services (PRS) is an optional module which enables the management of physical objects, while OmniRIM can also be integrated with Documentum Records Manager for physical records management. Records are stored within the Documentum repository or in a separate repository, if needed. Documentum Records Manager provides good retention hold, reporting and administrative capabilities. It also provides native integration to EMC Email Xtender for active archiving of e-mail, while RPS supports integration with Symantec's and Autonomy's e-mail archiving solutions. New federated records management features in Documentum 6 are available, using third-party connectors for other content repositories, and EMC Records Activator provides integration with Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007. Documentum Records Manager is scalable for a large user base and works well as part of the EMC Documentum product set, enabling Documentum functionality, such as search and workflow, to be leveraged.

Rating: Strong Positive

IBM's records management products are part of its ECM Compliance portfolio, which is complemented by IBM FileNet Email Manager, IBM FileNet Records Crawler, IBM Classification Module and IBM Content Federation Services for records retention. IBM Records Manager is for the IBM Content Manager product suite and provides a records management engine with strong federated records management capabilities through the IBM WebSphere Information Integrator for Content Edition (IICE). IBM FileNet Records Manager is for the IBM FileNet product suite and has strong workflow capabilities to manage the records throughout their entire life cycle. It has a "dynamic hold" feature which not only enables hold enforcement but also automates the process by running periodic sweeps to identify and place on hold those records that meet pre-specified criteria. It also supports multiple file plans for central or geographically dispersed organizations. IBM also has a number of partners to support extended physical records management for both products. IBM's future product road map provides a convergence of its content management product lines and enables the use of either records management product through integration tools. Organizations should consider which IBM records management product to deploy based on their IBM content management platform.

Rating: Strong Positive

Interwoven Records Manager is part of the company's comprehensive approach to records management that includes its WorkSite and Universal Search products. Interwoven Records Manager has strong physical records management capabilities for on-site and off-site storage, and is designed to work with WorkSite for electronic records and e-mail management. It has been primarily deployed to Interwoven's professional services customers who have a strong need for management of their case and engagement files. Interwoven Records Manager is still a "work in progress" and missing some important functionality, including auto-classification features. The product's most significant deficiency is the lack of federation or connectors to other content repositories and archives, which is expected in later releases. Interwoven Records Manager can be deployed as a stand-alone solution for physical records management, but it works best with WorkSite. Interwoven Records Manager is suited for organizations that have a strong requirement for physical records management and/or an investment in Interwoven WorkSite.

Rating: Promising

Microsoft Office SharePoint Server (MOSS) 2007 includes records management features and capabilities. The Records Center site is central to the design and implementation of records management within MOSS 2007. It is the records repository and provides templates to implement policies, file plans and metadata management. MOSS 2007 can be deployed using Records Center to provide basic records management or, using its DOD 5015.2-STD Resource Kit option, to provide more formal records management. It is still a relatively unproven records management product which requires substantial customization and services to implement. Its physical records management features are an example of this, as is its DOD 5015.2-STD deployment, which became available in February 2008. For Microsoft-centric organizations, MOSS 2007 does offer a records management solution that is tightly integrated with document management and e-mail management as well as the Microsoft Office Suite. This integration and the user-friendliness of the Records Center make this solution suitable for midsize organizations that need records management.

Rating: Promising

Objective Records Management is an integral module of Objective 7, an ECM solution. Objective Records Management provides intuitive retention and management for physical and electronic records, including e-mail, which are stored as objects in the content repository. It also has strong taxonomy and classification capabilities with support for multiple classification libraries. Objective Records Management was the first product to be certified for VERS version 2. It has no formalized integration with other content repositories and e-mail archives, and provides integration through its open Web Services architecture. Objective's installed base is predominately in Asia/Pacific and the U.K. The company provides a mature records management product with good functionality. Objective Record Management is for organizations that have or are planning to deploy Objective 7 as their ECM solution.

Rating: Promising

Open Text has records management products for each of its ECM suites. Livelink ECM-Records Management is for Livelink ECM-Enterprise Server. It has a strong set of e-mail management, classification and archiving components, including Livelink ECM-Email Management, Livelink Classification Professional, and Livelink ECM-Email Archiving, all of which extend its records management capabilities. Livelink ECM-Records Management also has DOD 5015.2-STD-certified integration with SAP and Microsoft Office Server SharePoint 2003 and 2007. Open Text also enables in-place records management for external content repositories using its Enterprise Library Services. Livelink ECM-eDOCS RM is for its Livelink ECM-eDOCS Suite. Open Text's records management products have a substantial installed base of users, good functionality (including strong physical records management capabilities), and extensive file plan and records retention schedule development features. Its products also have good workflow capabilities to manage the records management process. Open Text also has a DOMEA-based version of its records management product sold in Germany. The company intends to continue to support both of its records management products. However, existing customers with Livelink ECM-eDOCS 2004 and later versions that require a common records management program across multiple content repositories should consider deploying Livelink ECM-Records Management, utilizing Enterprise Library Services which provides better integration and functionality. As with other ECM platforms, Open Text records management products should be considered based on the specific ECM suite in use.

Rating: Strong Positive

Oracle Universal Records Management (URM) is part of the Enterprise Content Management Suite and provides a full set of functionality for electronic records, physical records and e-mail management. It provides an "adapter"-based integration strategy for retention into other content repositories and archives, which currently includes Oracle Universal Content Management (UCM), Oracle Imaging and Process Management (I/PM), Microsoft SharePoint 2003 and 2007, and Symantec Enterprise Vault, but will extend to other content repositories and archives in the future. In addition, the URM generic adapter can be used to create a customized adapter to apply retention policies defined in Oracle URM for third-party repositories or applications. Oracle URM provides full physical records management and can be deployed as a stand-alone solution. It also provides good review and reporting capabilities, along with Web-based administration, and the tools for file plan creation and maintenance. As Oracle adds and integrates more of its content management functionality into its business applications, retention management features will enable better management of content in those applications.

Rating: Positive

Tower Software's TRIM Content provides records management features as part of its ECM product suite. Tower Software focuses on providing TRIM Context to government organizations and regulated industries, predominately in Australia, the U.K. and the U.S. TRIM Context handles a diverse set of documents and objects, and has good physical records management capabilities. It has a good set of tools to support the configuration of functional and subject-based file plans, as well as tools to extend retention management by providing features to define and apply time- and event-based retention schedules. In TRIM Context 6 and release 2, Tower has provided integration to Microsoft SharePoint 2003 and MOSS 2007, and started working on providing adapters to integrate with other content repositories. Integration and application of records retention for content in other repositories requires TRIM SDK and Connectivity Toolkit for Web Services. TRIM Context is for organizations that are looking to deploy records management as part of their ECM product suite or for physical records management. HP has entered into a prebid agreement to acquire Tower Software on 31 March 2008. While its overall product capabilities are good, prospects should "approach with caution" until better visibility on HP's future plans for Tower Software are provided.

Rating: Caution

Vignette Records Manager provides records management capabilities and is part of the Vignette Document and Records Management suite. It is not widely deployed, but Vignette Records Manager has good functionality for electronic records management and e-mail management. It also has strong security features, including non-repudiation and "document fingerprinting" to assess if a document has been tampered with or changed. In addition, Vignette Records Manager provides for bulk importing of information assets and uniquely supports the capture of Web pages using Vignette WebCapture. It has good integration with content created in other Vignette products, including Vignette Portal and Vignette Collaboration, and shares its infrastructure with Vignette Case Manager, allowing business processes to directly access the records repository. Collaborative content can be declared as records using a "replace with link" approach, in which the content would be moved from Vignette Collaboration to Records Manager. It also has good integration with Microsoft Office applications including Microsoft SharePoint, but will require customized adapters for integration with other content repositories and e-mail archives. The limited federation capabilities are a significant weakness for this product. Vignette Records Manager is best suited for organizations that have Vignette as their enterprise content management platform.

Rating: Promising

ZyLAB's Records Management and Archiving (RMA) module can be deployed as a stand-alone solution or as part of the ZyIMAGE Information Access Platform (IAP). ZyLAB is a European vendor that provides imaging, search, e-discovery and records management solutions with IAP. Its RMA product is unique in that it stores the content in either XML or native file formats. Its integration with the search and discovery modules provides additional functionality that is not typically included in records management products. This product offers good features for electronic records but lacks integration with other ECM platforms. It does provide the capability to import files from Microsoft SharePoint. ZyLAB RMA is ideally suited for organizations looking for an electronic records management solution with ease of use and minimum professional services requirements.

Rating: Promising