Over a third (38%)of large organisations across the UK admit their e-mail management system is in 'complete chaos', according to the findings of a survey released by AIIM on compliance and its impact

The survey also found that the same number admitted that their company either had no policy or they did not know their company's policy when it came to e-mail archiving.

A third of UK organisations do not have any clear plans or procedures for dealing with compliance issues, especially those concerning historical records. Two thirds describe themselves as being in the very early stages of implementing compliance initiatives, with a quarter of them not having begun to develop any compliance-related strategy at all. The survey also showed that over 90% agree that compliance concerns relating to managing electronic information are here to stay and compliance must take a higher precedence in order to ensure consistent practices throughout their organisations.

Companies appear to have a disturbingly narrow view of compliance and what it really means for their organisation. Only 16% understand that the concept relates to information within enterprise resource planning and customer relationship management systems, with over 60% of users failing to acknowledge that e-mail information falls under compliance requirements for enterprise content management. Instead, awareness of what compliance means for their organisation centres around well-publicised government legislation, bypassing the fact that compliance extends beyond regulatory concerns.