The Pipeline to RIM Outsourcing: How Oil and Gas Win by Outsourcing by Vickie Malis

Regulators continue to push pipeline records towards perfection, and a great Records Information Management (RIM) program is an important part of the equation. Two thousand and eleven was a turning point at which regulators set their sights on oil and gas with the Pipeline Safety, Regulatory Certainty and Job Creation Act of 2011. While this act forces better pipeline integrity documentation and operations, it also is driving companies to maintain digital records, release them through a centralized database and provide timely access to critical information.

Feeling Overwhelmed?

The entire oil and gas sector has been feeling the pressure from regulators to update systems, improve policies and execute successfully. With increasing public scrutiny, fines and lawsuits, the heat is on from the executive suite and throughout the company. But there is no need to go it alone: An experienced provider of RIM outsourcing is ready to lift some of the burdens.

What to Do, What to Do

Being nimble is the key to winning, and a partner can ensure that physical documents are available for ingestion into a company's content management applications, be they PIMS, GIS or good old-fashioned ECM.

Organizations can knock down silos by leveraging a partner to identify and index records from the diverse locations where they may located. A partner can help gather, sort and index records; fill in missing metadata for accurate classification; and review and validate the records so organizations can identify documentation gaps.

Pipelines may be what the company does, but it is likely that company has as much paper as pipeline. A partner can handle that paper so the company can focus on the pipeline.

Do What You Do

Companies throughout the U.S. and Canada are using a RIM partner with expertise in pipeline integrity records management, imaging, secure transportation and storage to do this and it works. Since they are able to focus on what they do and leave the RIM to their partner, they are more nimble than their competitors. Companies should focus on doing what they do best and find a partner for the rest.

LINK:	http://blogs.ironmountain.com/2014/service-lines/records-management-an...
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