E-mails and instant messages count as records too.(Headline: NACM)

Companies that can't retrieve appropriate e-mails and instant messages could be subject to a big fine. Appropriate policies for records retention, which includes e-mails and instant messages, are essential for many companies, says Marie Patterson, VP of Marketing Strategy for AXS-One, Inc., a company that supplies computer archiving and retrieval solutions. She noted that a majority of companies still fail to retain instant messages, which could be subject to discovery procedures in a civil action. "While organizations have been very quick to embrace the Internet ... they haven't applied policies regarding the communications and retaining records of those communications," Patterson said.

Patterson pointed to such cases as the one that happened to Morgan Stanley last year. In that case, the company couldn't guarantee that it had turned over every message related to a pending suit and promptly got hit with a multi-billion dollar fine. She pointed out that companies must do two things regarding their electronic communications. First, they must design appropriate records retention policies to fit their appropriate industry type: each industry is subject to specific records retention regulations. And secondly, she said companies should have a system in place that can easily identify and retrieve records that have been archived.

Once formal policies on electronic archiving are in place, Patterson said they must be enforced consistently--across the board. She recounted an example of a 2004 civil suit involving alleged gender discrimination in a termination of employment. When the plaintiff's attorney requested specific electronic communications the plaintiff knew were there, they could not be found because an employee had destroyed them, against the company's policy. That misstep by a company employee, in violation of company policy regarding electronic document retention, caused it to lose the civil suit and also have discovery costs levied against it. "The courts are coming down hard on organizations for not adhering to their own policies," Patterson said.

Each type of company, depending upon the industry it is in, and the various regulations it is subjected to, must design appropriate electronic records retention policies, Patterson said. "You need to decide what constitutes a record, what you should be retaining, and for how long." She cautioned against relying just on backups of server files, noting that, "they're just a snapshot ... ...