Electronic Records Management System (ERMS)
Software that captures, classifies, secures, and disposes of electronic records under a retention schedule, while maintaining audit trails and access controls.
An electronic records management system (ERMS) is software purpose-built to bring electronic records under control. It captures records into a managed repository and formally declares them as records, classifies them against a file plan and retention schedule, protects their integrity, controls access, maintains audit trails, and executes disposition when retention periods end.
In the U.S., the DoD 5015.2 standard defines baseline functional requirements that ERMS products are tested against, and internationally ISO 16175 describes requirements for managing records in digital environments. The hardest part of any ERMS is not storage but capture — getting records into management in the first place — which modern systems address through integration with everyday tools and auto-classification rather than relying on users to file manually.