Everyone knows the chaos that the use of shared drives has created. It is hard to rein in the problem, especially with easy access to almost unlimited space. This is especially relevant with the preventable retention of ROT (Redundant, Obsolete, or Trivial) records. But, as anyone in charge of the IT budget can tell you, there is a cost to managing information despite the concept that it’s cheap to store in our “unlimited cloud” environment.

However, obvious and not-so-obvious costs for Information Management include:

• Storage: cloud, local servers, removable media. “Cheap” but not free.
• Management: staff, permanent or consulting- are having to review, organize, move, control, give access to, remove the information across your network.
• Electronic discovery: costs are in terabytes and petabytes for your company’s people or for consultants hired to review – less to review=lower discovery cost.
• Hardware.
• Software.
• Time spent looking for data and information.
• Potential loss of or inability to locate information in the electronic abyss. Sometimes punishable by fines from the court and/or loss of reputation.
• Inability to find, use, or defend intellectual property when needed.

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Cleaning up the messes we have collectively made over the last couple decades is not easy and may not be entirely possible immediately. But simple steps can be made to lessen the risks and facilitate the management of what is important.

First, make sure your policies and RRS (Records Retention Schedule) are in place to defend your actions. Time to retain should be part of guidance on ROT. The RRS is not the place to define non-record classes such as ROT.

Then, continue with a simple assessment of the low-hanging fruit of the thorny information shrubbery. In the records management world, analysis of paper destruction always begins with assessing what was ROT, such as drafts, handwritten to-do lists, calendars, agendas, multiple copies, etc. The equivalent applies to the electronic as well.

In the digital universe, there are other bits to look for (pun intended). You can use special software tools or just what Microsoft has bestowed upon us.

Let us look for some hints in the files themselves.

• Temp – usually defined to be immediately destructible.
• Recycle Bin – usually defined to be immediately destructible.
• Obsolete – if named as such, a month’s retention is more than enough generally.
• Log file.
• Backup – except for files named Backup Procedure, Backup Process, Backup Tool, Backup Routine, or IT Backup (but explore further as these may be redundant)
• Zero-byte files – time to let go of anything that has shown “0” in its allotment of space.
• Names of films, movies, TV shows, songs – want to save some serious space and reduce some copyright risk? Go for audio and video, for sure, unless, of course, you are in the business of copyright law.

These recommendations just scratch the surface with easy-to-use tools. If the destruction process is written and approved, and the files are not specifically excluded by SOP (Standard Operating Procedure), written guidance, or regulation, then clean up by destroying ROT. Additionally, caution needs to be taken by those in highly regulated industries. Have the business head of the department get involved if questions arise. One unexpected side benefit might be better cooperation among your personnel in avoiding illegal downloading.