Do more with less: Space Planning in Records Management

Office space is becoming more expensive and less available, as business organizations across North America experience unprecedented growth and increased merger and acquisition activity. Monthly leasing costs in New York are now at US$75 per square foot, an increase of almost 40 percent from the previous year. With its booming energy-based economy, the Canadian city of Calgary faces rents of up to US$55 per square foot and office vacancy rates of 2.25 percent.

Meanwhile, for all the talk of a paperless office, most organizations’ file collections are growing rather than shrinking. Environmental regulations, labor law and emerging accountability requirements such as the Sarbanes-Oxley Act all require complete, reliable records. Many records managers looking for a place to store and protect records find themselves having to do more with less.

So how do you fulfill your operational mandate in the face of rising rent and a shrinking workspace? The records management industry has responded with a wide range of helpful options, but not one product or service can fully address such a fundamental challenge. What is needed is a total records management solution which applies different tools to the information needs, legal risks and storage requirements of your organization. A comprehensive space planning program can not only manage the costs associated with storing records but also better enable the organization to meet operational goals.