Reporting on Information Needs This report aims at establishing the process for managing records within the organization and marketing products. This report was requested by Michael Duffy Administration and Business Support Manager, based on the numerous complaints raised by staff regarding the hurdles they face when trying to access information from the current information system. The staff have explained that it is difficult for them to find information that is correct and up-to-date. There are also numerous brochures, and the staff is uncertain what brochures are correct. This leads to the wrong information being shared and provided to potential students and clients. The sales teams have been using the old document versions, and they have not been aware of this problem since there is no version control being followed as stipulated by the organization it is difficult for them to know when documents are updated and what documents should be in use. It has been pointed out that there are many brochures stored on the system, but most of these brochures are outdated. This is a problem because the organization could be sharing information that is not current and this is misleading to the clients or students. There is need to implement a more robust system for managing records in line with the policies set out by the organization. This will ensure that the documents are always current and employees can check version to be certain they are using the correct document at any given time.

Current Policies and Procedures

The current policies as specified in Appendix A are effective in ensuring that all involved understand the organization's policies regarding the management and handling of documents.

The principles laid out for records management ensure that employees understand who owns the copyright of the material and this prevents any litigation against the organization.

Recognizing and appointing relevant people to be in charge of recordkeeping will ensure records are well recorded and updated with current information.

Appendix A has pointed out the records that the records management system shall be handling, and this will allow the business to focus its efforts towards inputting and managing only these records within the information system.

The capturing of all business records allows the business to be compliant with various legislative and regulatory requirements.

Limiting access of the records is a nice policy because it allows employees to only access what is relevant to them and prevents misuse of the information stored.

The policy regarding disposal of records is not suitable because it with the advancement in technology, the records do not occupy huge spaces when archived. There are sensitive records like financial, payroll, and legal documents that should never be deleted.

All documents not being used within a specified period should be archived.

The lack of version control has resulted in the employees not knowing what documents to use and they have been using the documents they think are current.

Using version control will ensure that the records are properly updated, and the employees are aware of when the records were updated and who updated them last.

Document history is suitable because it gives an overview of the status of each document.

The numbering system proposed within Appendix B is a suitable method for managing records and documents. The numbering system proposed is easy to understand, and employees can easily tell if a document has been recently modified.

The use of headers and footers will allow employees and document user to be aware of the status of the document they are accessing from any page. This makes it easy to keep track of versions and modifications or reviews.

Issues to be Addressed

The current issue facing the marketing materials is that there are two locations where employees access the materials from, and both location seem to have different versions of the same documents. The two locations have some updated and old versions of the documents. This is frustrating and confusing to the employees who are not certain of the location they should be accessing their documents from and the location with the updated versions. Based on the policies for the organization regarding the identification of updated documents, there seems to be a lack of versioning or document version control. This has created the current problem facing the marketing team. The organization has different brochure versions within the system, and all the brochures are outdated, which makes it even worse because the marketing team is using brochures that do not contain correct or updated information. The use of old and outdated documents is causing problems for the organization because the wrong information...

This discrepancy is causing friction between the students and the administrators because they all seem to have different information. These issues are serious, and they could affect the institution if they are not rectified soonest possible. There is no appointed person in charge of ensuring the records and documents are properly updated and versions specified. This has led to there being numerous documents for the same kind, and this is confusing especially to employees who are not aware of what they should be using. According to the policies for records management, there should be a key person charged with the responsibility of record keeping.
The documents listed in Appendix D do not have the correct information, and the version number has not been indicated as specified in the organization's policy for document management. The documents have not been properly formatted, and they are confusing in that the total fees a student should pay should come last and not in between the document. Placing it between another record is confusing for the person receiving the document.

The organization should ensure it observes the privacy legislation requirement when dealing and handling client and employees personal records and information. Privacy means that all sensitive information should only be accessible to authorized employees. Confidentiality should also be maintained for all the information recorded on the information system.

Information Systems to be Used

The organization would need to have these types of systems in order to solve the issues they are currently facing:

Financial Management System: The system will manage all the accounting aspects of the organization.

HRM System: This system will be mainly concerned with the management of employees records and other aspects of employee's information

Record Management System: The system charged with keeping and handling all records for employees and students within the organization.

Document Management System: For the management of the various documents being used within the organization.

Conclusion

The business is advancing and increasing the number of employees. This means that there is going to be more problems or issues if the current document management problems are not addressed immediately. With an increased staff there are going to be many employees all having outdated and wrong information. Therefore, the business would suffer because people would not trust the information provided or released from the institution. To ensure that records are managed correctly and documents kept current the business should adopt a management system that lays emphasis on the policies that have been specified. Failing to observe and enforce these policies will only aggravate the current situation and make it worse.

Implementing and Information System

The recommended improvements proposed are:

Incorporate a version control mechanism.

Specify and require all documents to be stored on the server.

Clean up the current records by deleting unwanted documents from the server and drive C.

Train the employees on how to check the document version and how to update a document.

Ensure all documents follow the specified document manageent policy.

Communication of the system changes would be done via email. There will be different emails for different staff members based on the access an employee has of the system. All communications will include instructions and guidelines on how to use the new system and how to ensure the employees are using the correct documents. Document control measures will limit the employees who can edit the various documents. This would ensure that documents are not corrupted, and wrong information saved. Depending on the access granted to an employee, they can only view and print the document, but they cannot edit. However, they can propose changes or amendments to the document.

Document review will be done together with Jamie, Sally, and Troy. These are the key individuals involved with the information system, and they understand the processes of the organization. Involving them will ensure that there is minimal resistance to adopting the system, and their input will be key to ensuring that correct processes and documents are saved on the server. There will be an alert system that will send an email to a specific employee requesting them to confirm an edit. or check the version of a document to ensure it is correct and current. The alerts will also be system based in that when an employee has logged into the system, they will see their notifications and action points. We can include calendar alerts so that on documents are reviewed on…