Records and Information Management, one of the VOW Venture Programme’s business services, has now been launched to all partners of the accreditation programme. Records and Information Management is the systematic administration and secure storage of records and documents. Whether physical or digital, the service empowers users to fully manage the lifecycle of large volumes of critical and legacy data. It also offers access on demand, when required.

The Records and Information Management service is being provided by Iron Mountain® who offer support via a thorough consultative approach to ensure the most relevant service is deployed for customers. As a globally trusted market leader, Iron Mountain® has more than 220,000 corporate customers and serves 85% of FTSE companies.

Resellers on the VOW Venture Programme will be able to benefit from the newly launched service as it will provide their businesses with a recurring revenue stream while enabling them to provide their customers with an additional added value service.

Martin Weedall, VOW’s National Sales Director, explains: “All businesses, regardless of size or operating markets, always collect, store and manage confidential data about customers, employees and suppliers. Therefore, they have a legal responsibility to store and ultimately dispose of that information in the correct manner. Our Records and Information Management service can help protect business reputation and customer relationships by minimising the risk of data loss, breach or mismanagement. It assists with compliance to the Data Protection Act, The Freedom of Information Act and any other applicable legal, NI or tax legislation.”

Martin adds, “The VOW Venture Programme was designed to help our resellers grow. Our Records and Information Management service offers our partners the ideal opportunity to diversify and explore new markets with current and prospective customers.”

The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) 2005 legislates that for Public Body information requests, organisations must have an efficient Records and Information Management system in place to retrieve and provide the required information within the relevant timescale.

Furthermore, in a study conducted by Iron Mountain®, it was found that:

• 48% of businesses suffered reputational impact as a result of lost or misplaced information.
• Only 36% of mid market businesses have an information risk strategy in place, which is effectively monitored.
• 60% of businesses were unsure whether their employees had the necessary tools to protect against information risks.

_{Source: PwC/Iron Mountain information Risk Study, 2011/12}

Other aspects of VOW Venture’s Records and Information Management service include:

• Storage benefits to free up valuable space
• Complete security, which ensures controlled and regulated access per user
• Self service portal for customers
• Service delivered via a comprehensive network of 96 purpose designed secure facilities in the UK, providing consistency in procedures

All businesses have a responsibility to store and ultimately dispose of information in the correct manner, in accordance with the Data Protection Act 1988 and any other applicable legislation. Records and Information Management is a service applicable to all businesses of all sizes that gather and hold customer/employee or supplier data, especially as no business is exempt from the above legislative responsibilities. Therefore, this service will enable VOW Venture partners to target customers across any market sector and truly explore the potential of growing their business.