INTER-AGENCY COLLABORATION APPLICATIONS
RECORDS MANAGEMENT ASSESSMENT REPORT
INTRODUCTION
The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), based on authority granted by 44
United States Code (U.S.C.) 2904(c), is responsible for assessing the proper management of
records in all media within federal agencies to protect rights, assure government accountability,
and preserve and make available records of enduring value. Under this authority, NARA
conducts records management oversight of federal agencies, including agency inspections and
assessments. An assessment is a multi-agency evaluation of a specific topic, issue, or activity
affecting records management (RM) processes, procedures, or policies.
NARA conducted an assessment of the collaboration tools used by federal agencies for inter-
agency business. In particular, NARA was interested in the technology, methodology and
policies federal agencies use to create, transmit, protect and preserve records from collaboration
tools. Furthermore, the purpose of this assessment is to determine what, if any, updates may be
required to federal records management regulations (36 CFR Chapter XII, Subchapter B) or to
NARA guidance, including NARA Bulletin 2009-02: Guidance Concerning Managing Records
in Multi-agency Environments, in order for agencies to achieve results consistent with the
records management objectives established in 44 U.S.C. § 2902.
The term “collaboration tools” is broad, but this assessment focused on collaboration suites,
email, calendar, video conferencing, chat, file sharing, and document collaboration. For purposes
of this assessment, we are defining collaboration tools as containing:
● Collaboration Suites - Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, Nextcloud, Zoho One,
OpenPaaS
● Document Collaboration - Max.gov, Google Workspace Docs, Sheets, Slides, Microsoft
365 Word, Excel, PowerPoint; Box, Huddle
● File Sharing - Max.gov, DoD Secure Access File Exchange (SAFE), Box, Huddle,
Google Drive, Microsoft OneDrive, Nextcloud, Owncloud
● Email - Outlook, Gmail, WorkMail, ProtonMail, Zoho, Thunderbird
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