AIIM (see
longer article ) has found that a third of
organizations have no policy to deal with legal discovery and that 40 percent
might need to search back-up tapes to find emails that could be relevant to
litigation. This new 2009 AIIM survey, which was underwritten by EMC and ASG,
found that 84 percent would have no way to justify why emails of a certain age
or type had been deleted. In AIIM’s view, most organizations are only just
waking up to the fact that among the deluge of day-to-day emails, some
constitute important business records, and that emails need to be recorded and
retained as such.
Over half of respondents lack confidence that emails related to documenting
commitments and obligations made by staff are recorded, complete and
recoverable. This number has not improved over the last three AIIM surveys.
Perhaps this finding is not surprising given that 45 percent of respondents are
still filing important emails in personal Outlook folders. A resolute 18 percent
print important emails and file them as paper. Only 19 percent have the facility
to move important emails into a document or records management system, or a
dedicated email management system.
Doug Miles, director of Market Intelligence at AIIM, comments, “This is not
just a legal discovery issue. "Finding and recovering past emails" is cited as
the number two problem, with "Sheer overload" at number one. Given that most
people spend more than 1.5 hours per day processing emails, this is a major
efficiency issue. The good news is that a third of organizations plan fresh
investment in email management initiatives over the next two years.”
The new AIIM research also found that two-thirds of respondents access emails
on the move, and a startling 28 percent normally process work-related emails on
weekends and while on vacation.
Download the full report at WWW.AIIM.ORG
Turn to page 22 for more on this new research. The full report,
“Email Management, the Good, the Bad and the Ugly,” can be downloaded for free
at www.aiim.org/emailmanagement2009. Email Management is also addressed in the
AIIM Certificate Training Program, which is available on the Web or as classroom
courses at www. aiim.org/training.
AIIM debuts new on lin e assessment tool for records management
AIIM is pleased to announce the debut of a new online assessment
tool for records management to help organizations understand how well their
policies and systems support best practices, and help identify opportunities for
improvement. Developed jointly with Hewlett- Packard (HP), the free tool
assesses staff training, corporate policies and technology investments to
provide a rating against a five-stage competency scale. The tool generates
real-time information on the organization’s identified stage, the associated
business risks, and the benefits of progressing to the next stage of records
management competency.
“This assessment will help organizations focus on achieving the next step
towards a united and proactive approach to managing records regardless of the
source,” said Atle Skjekkeland, vice president of AIIM.
Records management industry experts AIIM and HP collaborated on the
development of the five-stage maturity model for records management competency,
encompassing both electronic and paper records. A set of questions across best
practice topics measures the performance of people, policies and technology to
produce an overall score and stage identification.
“Organizations need to protect their corporate knowledge and manage it
efficiently and effectively,” said Jonathan Martin, vice president and general
manager, Information Management, Software and Solutions, HP. “Records management
is the core capability to achieve this objective. This assessment solution helps
organizations better understand their records management state and find
opportunities to make proactive improvements.”
The online assessment tool can be accessed free at www. hp.com/go/imhub.
Organizations interested in learning more about how to manage their
electronic information should visit AIIM’s new microsite for Electronic Records
Management (ERM). Visitors to www. aiim.org/erm will find case studies and white
papers, information and research, online and in-person events, resources and
toolkits to help them establish and enforce an enterprise-wide records
management system that explains the requirements, responsibilities, and
accountability in managing an organization’s information assets.
AIIM announces revision and update to its Electronic Records
Management (ERM) Specialist and Master courses
AIIM has revised and
updated the course material for its electronic records management (ERM)
Specialist and Master courses. These courses address the implementation of ERM
environments using the implementation approach provided in the global standard
for records management, ISO/TR 15489- 2:2001.
According to Atle Skjekkeland, AIIM Vice President, “Implementing electronic
records management solutions is more than introducing technology – it’s more
than purchasing software and hoping for the best. Technology should be looked
upon as a tool, not the solution.” Skjekkeland continues, “Implementing and
establishing an ERM environment requires development of records management
processes and controls. It requires creation of records management instruments,
change management, and communication as the organization moves to an ERM-enabled
way of working. ISO/TR 15489-2:2001 recognizes and provides this.”
According to section 8.3 of the standard, such a system should be able to:
- Document records transactions
- Protect physical records and media
- Support distributed management of records
- Provide for conversion and migration of records
- Allow users to access, retrieve, and use records
- Facilitate retention and disposition of records throughout the lifecycle
In addition, it also argues for a design and implementation methodology
so the systems can be implemented uniformly. ISO/TR 15489-2 provides an
implementation methodology consisting of the following 8 steps:
- Conduct preliminary investigation
- Analyze business activity
- Identify requirements for records
- Assess existing systems
- Identify strategies to satisfy requirements
- Design records system
- Implement records system
- Conduct post-implementation review
The new and improved AIIM Electronic Records Management (ERM) Certificate
Program, available now, thoroughly examines each of the eight steps in great
detail reflecting more than a 50 percent change in updates to the program
content. These changes are based upon feedback from AIIM’s Education Advisory
Groups of industry experts from different verticals in addition to leading
solutions providers, consultants, and analysts. Each of these steps is
thoroughly examined and discussed in the courses.
You will also receive an ERM workbook and access to supporting ERM online
modules and exams. These will be accompanied by a reference handout which will
include a glossary and a list of additional, useful references (such as URLs for
software certification scheme websites). You will also gain knowledge on
advanced topics including Discovery and Disclosure, Enterprise ERM and Emerging
ERM Issues.
The newly revised ERM Certificate Program is available at the Practitioner
and Specialist levels to students through instructor-led classroom sessions and
online. The Masters program is available through instructor-led classroom
sessions that can be scheduled at www.aiim.org/training. Those wishing to
inquire about private classes can contact AIIM at training@ aiim.org.
AIIM using MIKE 2.0 open methodology to implement Enterprise Content
Management
AIIM is using the MIKE2.0 open source implementation
methodology as the core organizing principle for its new and improved Enterprise
Content Management (ECM) training program. The MIKE2.0 methodology will be used
in both the Specialist and Master tracks as a guide for defining and deploying
ECM systems. MIKE2.0 (Method for an Integrated Knowledge Environment) is an Open
Source methodology for Enterprise Information Management that provides a
framework for Information Development.
According to Bob Larrivee, AIIM director, “MIKE2.0 is a collaborative effort
to help organizations focus on the data and information needs of the business.
Many of the business problems faced by organizations today around compliance,
lack of customer insight, poor change management, and cost are the result of
failing to focus on these core data and information needs. Using MIKE2.0 as the
framework to construct our new ECM training program will help organizations
deploy content technologies more efficiently and effectively. The five phases to
the MIK2.0 methodology are:
Phase 1 - Business Assessment and Strategy Definition
Blueprint
Phase 2 - Technology Assessment and Selection
Blueprint
Phase 3 - Information Management Roadmap and
Foundation Activities
Phase 4 - Design Incrementally
Phase 5 - Incremental Development, Testing, Deployment and
Improvement
Larrivee continues, “The iterative approach of
MIKE2.0 that divides the development and rollout of an entire system
into implementation cycles—defining and prioritizing portions of the system for construction
and deployment—ensures higher levels of success. Each iterative step has feedback mechanisms
to evaluate results and initiate improvements on future implementation cycles,
ensuring the project remains focused and delivers the expected results.
Successful implementations and user acceptance is what we seek in ECM, and that
is what MIKE2.0 delivers.”