That’s not to say that I don’t have an issue with storing content in a database from a records management perspective, though. It’s technically very difficult to forensically destroy a record (i.e. so it is unrecoverable) when the record is stored in a database. That’s why I always recommend that my customers use External Blob Storage solutions when they are managing their records in a SharePoint repository. (Coincidentally, this will also help alleviate some pressure put on the database – but that should really be a secondary consideration.)

Does anyone have any information on how to set these rules/properties in the Recod Center?

My observations tell me there are a significant number of organizations out there who are so overwhelmed by the perceived complexities of email records management that they are reluctant to actually implement anything. The point of my post was not to imply there isn’t a lot of work involved in creating an efficient email records management solution – because there is. A lot. And I recognize there are issues I didn’t discuss (PST files, user adoption, etc., etc.) that ultimately must be addressed. What I’m trying to make clear is that a workable solution created in good faith and able to stand up to judicial scrutiny is within reach. There will be challenges to be sure, but it can be done.

And it has to be. This should probably be a topic for a whole different post, but I think the (wildly underappreciated) Adams v. Dell decision from two years ago set a very clear precedent when the court sanctioned the defendant because ‘the party lacked a records retention program and the technology to support it’. Companies can no longer afford the luxury of endlessly analyzing records management applications hoping to find the perfect solution and never settling on anything. And nowhere is this more true than in email records management.