AD, HAD, RAD, and MAD: Records Disposition Methods for SharePoint 2010

While a primary focus of Records Management is to determine and maintain records per their retention period, there is always the end state… the day of disposition. When considering Electronic Records Management (ERM), records should be treated the same as any physical record in that the record is retained and then disposed per its legal or business requirements. Notice that I said “disposed” not “destroyed” as disposition could mean transfering a record out of your ownership to an historical society if it had historic value (sorry folks, but your memo on needing more coffee stations around the workplace is not historic).

Understanding and implementing the appropriate disposition method will give you a tactical advantage when the day of disposition occurs. Plan in advance to ensure that disposition actually occurs, as records that have gone past their retention period pose a legal or business risk. To that end, I have compiled four core methodologies for records disposition to be used in SharePoint 2010:

AD (Automated Disposition): The system proceeds with disposition per the retention period without interaction. This has the lowest level of risk and governance, as content is disposed without allowing for ad hoc exceptions. However, if someone declared an item a record when it should not have been a record, it will be subject to disposition without interaction.

Example: Once a record has been retained for 7 years, it is automatically disposed from the system with an entry in the audit log that disposition has been completed.

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