Topics: 

SA-06-006 Design Criteria for Electronic Records Management Applications (RMAs)

Issue Date: 1/01/2006

Revision Effective Date: 1/01/2006 

PURPOSE

This standard is issued jointly by the Georgia Technology Authority and the Georgia Archives with the endorsement of the CIO Council of the State of Georgia.

The Georgia Records Act requires that each agency create and preserve records containing adequate and proper documentation of the essential transactions of the agency. These records serve as evidence and must be protected from alteration or change to ensure their reliability in court. Such records must also be effectively managed so that they are maintained for retention periods prescribed by approved retention schedules, they may be accessed under the requirements of the Open Records Act, and they are disposed of (destroyed or sent to the state archives) after expiration of the retention period. This mandate extends to all records, regardless of form, and includes electronic records as well as paper records. (O.C.G.A. §50-18-94 (1) – (7)).

Various solutions exist for the management of state agency records, including Records Management Applications (RMA), Document Management Applications (DMA), Email Management Applications, and manual solutions through use of policies and procedures. An RMA is the only solution that manages all the various types of electronic documents as records, rather than through separate applications.

PURPOSE

To define the standard for the state of Georgia’s purchase of records management applications that ensures:

  • Informed decisions are made in the design and usage of RMAs;
  • Electronic records are managed in compliance with the Georgia Records Act, and;
  • State agencies have access to reliable software enabling compliance with state and federal records laws such as:
  1. Open Records Act
  2. Retention Schedules
  3. Sarbanes-Oxley Act.

STANDARD

This policy applies to the purchase of Records Management Applications (RMAs) only. An RMA is defined as: software used by an agency to manage its records. An RMA’s primary management functions are categorizing and locating records and identifying records that are due for disposition. RMA software also stores, retrieves, and disposes of electronic records that are stored in its repository.

Any Records Management Application software purchased or created by a Georgia state agency after January 1, 2006, shall comply with the most current version of the Department of Defense RMA standard, DoD5015.2-STD.

The current version of DoD5015.2-STD can be found at: http://jitc.fhu.disa.mil/recmgt/index.html