Once you have defined what the records that you extract from your structured business application look like and how they are classified in the target records management system, you are ready to start transferring them.

There are different things to consider depending on what type of transfer you are performing. If you are transferring the records as a one-off exercise, for example because you want to retire the application that contains them, you will want to perform a "move".  If you are transferring the records as part of an ongoing structured records management regime, it is possible that you want to "copy" them into the records management system and defer the deletion to a later point in time. This deferred deletion option allows you to collect records as soon as they conform with the selection criteria, but still keep a copy in the originating system for fast access. If you implement a deferred delete policy you want to make sure that the records management system can initiate the deferred delete based on predefined or rules-based dates, as well as implementing a feature that ensures that the data in the source system is never retained for any longer than the controlled records. When records are destroyed in accordance with their retention schedule, the system must also initiate the deferred deletion of the original data.

Whatever approach the transfer process takes, you want to make sure that you have an audit trail that covers the selection and extraction from the source application and the creation of the records in the target records management system. Ideally the whole process uses digital signatures and hash algorithms to ensure the integrity of the transfer end to end. This allows you to provide an unbroken chain of custody for your structured records.

Once your transfer is complete and the structured records are stored and classified in your records management system, they will be managed in accordance with your corporate records management policy and in context with all the unstructured records that you capture from other systems or users' desktops. I will tell you about some additional features that can be useful particularly for structured records management in a later post...