It’s a warm and sunny afternoon in middle of May. A young couple is beaming as they walk out of their city clerk’s office after having just applied for their marriage license. They pass by a new mom, strolling her baby inside to pick up copies of his birth certificate. Behind her stands a young man, recently home from overseas, proudly waiting his turn for a Veterans ID card.
As pens scribble away and photocopiers hum, the windows suddenly become dark. Everyone stops to look outside just as the familiar sirens ring throughout the clerk’s office – a tornado has been spotted nearby. As everyone heads toward safety to wait out the aggressive weather, heavy winds blow through the windows and revolving doors, scattering paperwork across rain-splattered floors. There’s a defeated look of disappointment and discern on the faces of both citizens and clerks: “What happens to our marriage license?” “We can’t travel to visit family without the baby’s birth certificate…” “Where will my proof of service be?”
In a nutshell, “how will we meet our constituents’ needs?”
Rooted Practices Withstand Disaster
As cold winter days sunset into a warm Spring, we also enter the season of tumultuous weather patterns. Whether tornados and hurricanes frequently blow through town or your neighborhood is just prone to flood warnings, everyone worries to some degree when Mother Nature comes knocking. On top of that, unpredictable fires have been known to wipe out decades of records and family histories.
Weather, unfortunately, does not evolve – the threat of natural disasters will always be a constant. But with the timelines of peoples’ lives on the line, courts, clerk’s offices and government agencies have advanced their preparation and resilience tactics to continue functioning amidst, and especially after, distress. Disaster and document recovery plans reassure not only staff, but also constituents whose records, histories and FOIA needs become of acute concern.
So, What’s the Plan?
Elevating records, photos and other vulnerable content to untouchable heights – like in the clouds.
Yes, the clouds. The digital cloud, that is.
Digitalizing both your records and processes not only protects sensitive information from unrecoverable situations, but adds an overall layer of extra security. Deploying a cloud-based ECM solution doesn’t mean you sacrifice functionality. Users of OnBase in the Hyland Cloud, for example, have quick and easy access to all their normal process management features, alongside file sync and share, mobility, integration and case management. With process automation working tirelessly behind-the-scenes and a familiar interface upfront, users forget they’re even working in the cloud – until it matters, of course.
Aside from document recovery, hosting content in a cloud supports the rigid compliance standards that courts, clerks and government offices are held to. As we know, “disaster” strikes in many forms – not always the consequence of something nature-related. With permissions-based access, encryption keys and complete audit trails available, vulnerable information no longer sits just a wandering eye away on someone’s desk.
Moving Forward to Preserve the Past and Present
With constituent and city histories entrusted to their care, government and justice communities are becoming more forward-thinking in their management practices. Evolving to meet the capability, mobility and integration needs of today and tomorrow, the cloud has your back regardless of what the future forecast holds.
Do you already work “in the clouds” and, if so, how is it going?
Respond in the “comments” section below or on LinkedIn. We read and respond – promise!