The Technology Divide: Why Records Management Isn’t Preservation

By Johan Pieterse, Director IT (Enterprise Content/Information and Archives Management) and National Archives Advisory Council Member

Records management and digital preservation may appear connected, but they are built on fundamentally different principles and relying on one system to do both creates risks.

Records Management Systems (RMS) are designed for business efficiency: high-volume transactions, fast search, workflow integration, role-based access, and cost-effective storage. They excel at supporting day-to-day operations and enforcing retention schedules.

Preservation systems, however, prioritise permanence. They monitor integrity, manage format obsolescence, store multiple copies across sites, and enable discovery for researchers decades from now. Their design ensures long-term access and authenticity, not just short-term business needs.

This creates an architecture gap:

• Data models shift from transactional to descriptive and evolving standards.

• Storage moves from cost-driven to redundancy and generational commitments.

• Security evolves from business-role access to long-term authenticity.

• Integration changes from workflows to preservation and migration tools.

Migrating from RMS to preservation isn’t a simple export. It requires enhanced metadata, sustainable file formats, remapped relationships, and new access models for unknown future audiences.

The implications are significant. Preservation systems demand ongoing investment, infrastructure, and specialised expertise. While not every organisation needs to operate its own, all organisations with records of enduring value must prepare for the transition — whether by building capability, partnering with heritage institutions, or ensuring records are preservation-ready on transfer.

The divide between records management and preservation is more than a policy question, it is a technology and strategy challenge. How is your organisation planning to bridge it?

Click here to read the full article