When selecting a records management provider, in Kenya as in anywhere else in the world, ensuring that your provider adheres to a robust set of compliance standards is crucial. At The Filing Room, we understand the importance of safeguarding your valuable documents and we are committed to upholding the highest industry standards. We understand those standards better than most people and so, in order to help businesses and records management professionals, we’ve set out a guide for how you should measure your records management partner’s suitability. Below, we outline the key compliance aspects you should consider when evaluating potential records management providers. Compliance with business operation standards A reputable records management company should be compliant with all business registration regulations and standards. Your records management partner must hold all relevant license. Ensuring your records management provider has a Single Business Permit issued by the County or a Certification of Registration

The whole point of having a records management system is that it allows for a business’ access to the information in those records, as and when the information is needed. With the physical storage of records, having an efficient retrieval component to a records management system is key to ensuring this vital part of managing records happens fluidly. There are, however, certain types of document collected by certain types of bigger businesses that need information to be even more readily available than that. Certain clients need to store information-heavy documents and also need the information in those documents to be digitally accessible. This is why data capture is becoming an increasingly important part of records storage. Data capture for big businesses with information-heavy documents Big businesses that generate a lot of paperwork, businesses like insurance companies and banks, often need to store original documents and have quick, digital access to

A records management system is most obviously designed for the protection and efficient retrieval of needed documents. However, the destruction process must not be overlooked. When a document has reached the end of its lifecycle, when it can be considered absolutely unnecessary, it is imperative that this document is disposed of in a safe, compliant and secure manner. At The Filing Room, we ensure the destruction of documents complies with all local and national regulations, that it is NEMA compliant and that it is secure. Securing your confidentiality from start to finish At The Filing Room, we believe that proper document management includes a clear and secure process for destruction. Here’s how we ensure your documents are handled with the utmost confidentiality and environmental responsibility: The client signals the need for a document’s destruction: When your business determines that certain documents have reached the end of their lifecycle or are

Keeping employment records in good order is essential for both a business and an employee. Maintaining these records gives both of these parties security when it comes to employment. Without even considering the law’s ruling on how long certain records must be kept, it should be considered sensible practice to keep these records anyway. Neither the business owner nor the employee wants to think about how a relationship can sour but, of course, we all know that occasionally they do. In these unfortunate circumstances, the position either side takes in an argument or dispute is only as strong as the evidence that can back it up. Whether you’ve arrived at an argument over employee performance, a dispute over sick or overtime pay, or you’re having the potentially more simple argument over what exactly an employee’s responsibilities are, you’ll want clear and up-to-date documentation to prove your point. What does the

The inventory is truly the backbone of a working records management system. Without an accurate, up-to-date and complete inventory, the rest of the system falls apart. It’s all very well that your in-house team or your records management provider, has created a purpose-built environment for records management. It may well be safe from flood, fire and pest damage and it may well be effectively laid out for ease of access and retrieval. But, if the inventory – the roadmap around this well-organised storage facility – doesn’t work, then these records may as well be considered inaccessible. ‘Retrieval is only as good as the quality of the inventory’ Frequently, new clients will come to us once they’ve realised that the project of in-house records storage and management has already become unmanageable. They’ll come to us with boxed files, often in good condition, but with their inventory failingly compromised by inaccurate reporting.

Recently, we’ve seen an uptick in inquiries for our digital archiving/registry management consultancy services. Providing our professional expertise to companies that are seeking to do their records management in-house is something we’re very happy to do. We know that there will always be big businesses – insurance companies, banks, multinationals – that, due to the sheer size of their operation, are better served by having a third-party document management company store their records. Similarly, we also know that there are other companies that have very valid reasons for storing their records in-house. If yours is one such company, this article is designed for you. It is our list of the factors that make a truly great document archiving system. We hope that you read it, digest it and incorporate it into your document archiving system. What makes a great document archiving system? Historical preservation A document archiving system is most

The digitisation of records, and subsequent digital document management process, is a huge part of modern document management. Many, if not all, companies are thinking about this part of records management for a variety of reasons. Digitisation is of obvious importance. The fact that digital records can be duplicated and saved in numerous places means that they can be accessed, disseminated, stored and retrieved with an ease that is obvious when it is compared with physical records. What’s more, modern Kenya, as most recently, and obviously, evidenced by KRA’s new eTIMS process, is going paperless. Big businesses, huge administrative bodies and organisations with widespread operations are increasingly stepping away from paper storage. Of course, there are certain documents, usually the most important ones, that will continue to be kept in physical form. Customer sign-up forms, at banks and insurance companies; tax reports and original documents for leases and contracts will

As a document management system provider, with warehouses and our own system for storage, when we reach out to large companies that have their own document management system, it can often seem as if we’re trying to poach a department’s role from a big company. This is occasionally the case with law firms, especially the bigger ones. The really big law firms have an obvious need for keeping their records easily and quickly accessible. Some of them find that this need is satisfied by the truly professional, efficiently-managed document storage providers, like the Filing Room. Other law firms do their document storage and management in-house, choosing to keep everything nearby and all under the organisation of the same system. We completely understand why; what we want to change is the impression that we, as third-party document management professionals, are in competition with a company’s in-house document management team. Optimising document

In modern Kenya's fast-paced business environment, maintaining an organized and efficient registry management system is essential for the success of any organization. With the ever-increasing volume of data generated daily, managing records manually can be overwhelming. Records management is absolutely essential to the well-running of any business, at any size or stage of its maturity. Without the appropriate storage of, and timely access to, a company’s records, many things can go wrong for a business. Deals can be lost, client files can be mislaid, time can be wasted. An inefficient records management system also opens up a business to potential litigation or regulatory issues. If KRA wants a document now, late delivery is almost, if not as, bad as that record being lost. As a result, many businesses look to third-party records management companies to store and organise their records. (If you want to read more about the dangers of

According to Africa News, Kenya is eyeing a complete re-opening of the country this December. After nearly two years of Coronavirus-enforced disruption, the Kenyan government is looking to revitalise the economy through the easing of restrictions. It is still unclear how much of a relaxation we can expect to see within Kenya. However, considering how the economy shrank by 0.2% in 2020, government officials must be anxious to get back to running things as normal This announcement, reported on by the online broadcaster, comes off the back of a variety of different news pieces that suggest at a reshaping of the Kenyan economy. Earlier in 2021, many East African news outlets also reported on a perceived evolution to Kenya’s relationship with Tanzania. The Presidents of East Africa’s largest economies met in May and are reported to have discussed a strengthening of the business ties between the two countries. What’s more,