ISO 15489 Records Management Implementation Training Course

Course overview

Poor records practices create operational drag long before they become an audit finding: staff save multiple versions in shared drives, retention rules are applied inconsistently, sensitive information is retained too long, and business decisions cannot be traced to reliable evidence. ISO 15489 provides a disciplined framework for creating, capturing, managing and disposing of records, but organisations need more than a policy statement to implement it. They need workable controls, ownership, classification structures and implementation evidence that fit how people actually work.

This course teaches participants how to translate ISO 15489 principles into an implementable records management programme. Participants assess current-state records controls; define recordkeeping requirements; develop a business classification scheme; establish metadata, access, retention and disposal rules; and specify controls for digital records in collaboration platforms and line-of-business systems. The course also examines governance, risk assessment, compliance monitoring, migration and defensible disposition, using ISO 23081 and ISO 16175 to support practical design decisions.

Instruction combines focused expert teaching with implementation workshops, document reviews and a running organisational case study. Participants work through a records inventory, risk assessment, classification model, retention schedule and implementation roadmap rather than discussing standards in isolation. Each participant leaves with an ISO 15489 implementation pack: a tailored gap-assessment template, control design checklist, draft records governance model and a 90-day action plan that can be adapted for their department or enterprise.

The course is designed for experienced records, information governance, compliance, risk, legal operations and technology professionals who are responsible for improving recordkeeping controls or delivering a records management change programme. It is equally valuable for managers approving investment because it connects standard requirements to measurable controls, implementation priorities and reduced information risk.

Course objectives

By the end of this course, participants will be able to:

• Assess an existing records environment against ISO 15489 principles using a structured gap-analysis matrix
• Define recordkeeping requirements from business processes, legal obligations and risk scenarios
• Design a business classification scheme that links functions, activities, record classes and ownership
• Specify metadata controls using ISO 23081 concepts for capture, retrieval, access and disposal
• Build a retention and disposal schedule with triggers, review points, legal holds and disposition authorities
• Develop governance roles, policy controls and escalation routes using a records management RACI model
• Evaluate digital recordkeeping controls in Microsoft Purview, SharePoint and business applications against ISO 16175 requirements
• Produce a phased ISO 15489 implementation roadmap with priorities, dependencies, measures and 90-day actions

Benefits of attending

Target competencies

Who should attend

• Records Managers — who must design or strengthen enterprise recordkeeping controls
• Information Governance Managers — who need to align retention, privacy, legal and information lifecycle requirements
• Compliance and Risk Managers — who must evidence control design and reduce regulatory exposure from unmanaged records
• Knowledge and Information Managers — who are responsible for classification, retrieval and trusted organisational information
• Legal Operations and eDiscovery Professionals — who need defensible retention, legal hold and disposition processes
• IT, SharePoint and Digital Workplace Managers — who configure platforms that must support reliable recordkeeping

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should understand how their organisation creates, stores and retrieves business information, and should have some exposure to records retention, information governance, compliance, privacy or document management work. Familiarity with terms such as record, metadata, retention schedule, legal hold, access control and business process is helpful. Participants should bring awareness of one business area or system they can use in exercises; access to a live system is not required. No prior ISO 15489 certification, auditing qualification, coding ability or specialist records management software experience is required. The course explains the standard’s structure before applying it.

Training methodology

The five days combine instructor-led interpretation of ISO 15489 with hands-on design work using a realistic multi-department organisation. Participants map a business process, identify records and risks, build a classification and metadata model, and test retention decisions against legal hold and disposal scenarios. Small-group reviews simulate the discussions required between records, legal, compliance, IT and business owners. Daily outputs are progressively assembled into an implementation pack. The final workshop converts the pack into a sequenced 90-day and 12-month action plan with accountable owners and success measures.

Course outline

Day 1: ISO 15489 foundations and current-state diagnosis

• ISO 15489 concepts: records, recordkeeping systems and authoritative evidence
• Principles of authenticity, reliability, integrity and usability
• Records lifecycle and continuum perspectives for digital environments
• Business, legal, regulatory and accountability requirements
• Records management governance, policy hierarchy and accountability
• Current-state discovery through repositories, processes and stakeholder interviews
• ISO 15489 gap-analysis matrix and maturity scoring

Workshop: Participants complete a current-state records control assessment for a case-study organisation and produce a prioritised gap register.

Day 2: Requirements, classification and metadata design

• Business process analysis for identifying recordkeeping requirements
• Functional business classification schemes and file plan design
• Record aggregation, naming conventions and controlled vocabularies
• ISO 23081 metadata principles and metadata schema components
• Metadata for provenance, relationships, access and retention
• Capture rules for email, collaboration content and line-of-business records
• Ownership models for classification and metadata maintenance

Workshop: Participants map a business process, identify its records and produce a draft functional classification and metadata profile.

Day 3: Retention, disposal and defensible control

• Retention schedule architecture: classes, triggers and retention periods
• Appraisal methods based on value, risk, obligation and business need
• Disposition authorities, approval workflows and disposal documentation
• Legal holds, investigations and disposal suspension controls
• Managing duplicates, transitory information and personal working files
• Transfer, archival preservation and migration decision criteria
• Defensible disposition evidence and audit trails

Workshop: Participants build a retention and disposal schedule for selected record classes, including triggers, holds and disposition approvals.

Day 4: Digital systems, controls and assurance

• ISO 16175 functional requirements for digital recordkeeping systems
• Microsoft Purview retention labels, label policies and event-based retention
• SharePoint document libraries, content types and managed metadata
• Access controls, security classifications and need-to-know permissions
• Audit logs, monitoring indicators and records control testing
• Data migration, legacy repositories and remediation planning
• Privacy, information security and eDiscovery integration points

Workshop: Participants evaluate a proposed SharePoint and Microsoft Purview configuration against a digital recordkeeping control checklist.

Day 5: Implementation governance and change delivery

• Target operating model for enterprise records management
• RACI design for business owners, records teams, IT, legal and compliance
• Policy, procedure and training artefacts required for rollout
• Risk-based sequencing of remediation and technology workstreams
• Change impact analysis and user adoption controls
• Performance measures, internal review and continual improvement
• Implementation business case, roadmap and governance reporting

Workshop: Participants present an ISO 15489 implementation roadmap with milestones, owners, risks, measures and a 90-day action plan.

Tools & standards covered

ISO 15489-1:2016, ISO 23081-1:2017, ISO 16175-1:2020, Microsoft Purview

A typical training day

Live online deliveries follow the same structure in the East Africa Time zone, with shorter screen blocks and longer breaks.

What the fee includes

How you can take this course

Certification

Participants who complete the full five days receive the Skillset Development Certificate of Completion, stating the course title, course code, dates and delivery format — suitable for professional-development records and employer reimbursement.

Frequently asked questions