Literature and philosophy is laden with theories and principles that rely on seven pillars. In this blog, I won’t attempt to reconsider the seven pillars of wisdom, life or anything that highbrow, (believe me, it wouldn’t be that insightful a piece!). Instead I will focus on something far more down to earth, but no less important for those given the responsibility of preparing an organisation for the implementation and management of SM&CR and its associated records.

When firms first start planning for the implementation of the new SM&CR regime, they seldom prioritise the ongoing challenge and risks associated with how well systems and processes will support things after it goes live and becomes business as usual. The challenges of managing a consistent approach across the various workflows; the difficulty of joining together what are often disjointed or siloed processes; how to ensure a robust and consistent approach to the related procedures across the firm, and crucially; future-proofing of  your systems and processes and maintaining an comprehensive and accessible audit trail.