Compliance at ease
Compliance at ease
ZyLAB has received approval by the U.S. Department of Defence for its ZyIMAGE records management solution, a significant boost for the company as it tries to compete for records management contracts in Australia under its distributor, Netlor. By Rodney Appleyard.
This recognition provides a highly respected stamp of approval for ZyLAB's standards for Australian companies looking for secure compliance capabilities. The question is, will it put the company ahead of other records management competitors in Australia, such as Tower Software, Objective and Documentum?
ZyLAB, which has 40 records management installations in Australia at the moment, was awarded the DoD 5015.2, STD certification from the DoD Joint Interoperability Test Command, making it one of only three web-based solutions that are compliant with this records management certification. For the last two years, ZyLAB has dedicated a team of engineers to build a solution that would adhere to the DoD 5015.2 STD requirements.
The DoD 5015.2 STD is the benchmark standard used by the US DoD and other government agencies that sets the criteria for selecting and implementing records management applications as well as how records must be created, sorted, retained, accessed and disposed of. According to the DoD, the ZyIMAGE .NET web solution is robust, easy to use and very fast.
ZyLAB also recently announced enhancements to it flagship solution, ZyIMAGE 5.0, to provide users with an effective process for digitally filing and managing vast amounts of paper and electronic documents. According to ZyLAB, the enhancements provide users with the ability to address major compliance requirements, and offers increased management, audit, and security capabilities for enterprise-wide information.
The records management module of ZyIMAGE 5.0 focuses on maintaining a repository of evidence that can be used to document events related to statutory, regulatory, fiscal, operational, or historic activities within the organisation. The system deploys a role-based user security model with strict filing permissions for groups of users.
It also makes it easier to store emails, by making them fully text searchable in the ZyLAB archive. The sender name, subject and date are stored as key fields and attachments from the email are linked directly to the original email.
Dr. Johannes Scholtes, CEO of ZyLAB explains why it is important for ZyIMAGE to receive this compliance certificate. "We demonstrated to the government compliance team that ZyIMAGE not only meets current DoD 5015.2 STD requirements but offers functionality that exceeds the requirements of the standard. DoD 5015.2 STD is the de facto standard for electronic records management systems throughout North America and around the world."
John Nestor, the accounts manager for Netlor, the distributor for ZyLAB in the Asia Pacific, outlines why this recognition will help ZyLAB gain momentum in Australia."This certification puts us ahead of our competitors because it recognises our security capabilities and ease of use. We are planning to incorporate the solution into a number of government departments in Australia, and there is nothing better than approval by the US DoD. Research from the police department has revealed that 81 percent of cases have failed because of poor management over paper-based information, which ZyLAB can solve.
The FBI used our system to scan seven and a half million pieces of paper in just nine days. The Melbourne fraud squad recently tested our solution and found it to be better than the records management system they currently use.
So we expect to make significant progress in Australia now we have this certification under our belt."
Under the current political and economic climate, ZyLAB has worked alongside customers such as the United Nations War Crimes Tribunal and several classified defence organisations, as well as the FBI Department of Homeland Security, the State of New York and Walt Disney.
Steve Bittinger, the research director at Gartner for Australia, talks about the relevance of the U.S. certification.
"Many businesses in the world are striving today to be compliant, so a company with this kind of recognition will instil confidence into these organisations. However, VERS is the standard of compliance in Australia, so this DoD certificate is not specifically required by Australian legislation. Although this recognition puts ZyLAB in a strong position, it is not a key differentiator in the market, which also includes big players such as Objective, Tower Software and Documentum."
As military and civilian organisations have become increasingly focused on information to help solve problems, records management infrastructure has become more strategic. Because of this, the Department of Defense has developed standard practices and regulations, incorporated into DOD 5015.2-STD, which control the creation, maintenance, use, reproduction, and deletion of records with the most vigorous care and attention. ZyLAB feels confident that its solution will appeal to government departments in Australia too because of the worldwide respect for these stringent compliance standards.
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