The AIIM Blog

Keep your finger on the pulse of Intelligent Information Management with industry news, trends, and best practices.

Blog Feature

Big Data  |  Oil and Gas

Oil & Gas: The Move from Documents to Data

People often seem to think oil & gas companies are leading-edge and have enough money to invest in whatever systems they like and that they live in a World of 3D models, data, and analytics. The real picture is often very different. Exploration and production companies, who search for and extract hydrocarbons, see information systems and information management as something necessary but not something that excites the interest of the board. Data is certainly much in evidence, but information overall is not treated as ‘the new oil’ by the industry. Much of the focus on data is within the geoscience discipline, from the creation of seismic surveys to reservoir modeling and interpretation. The techniques have changed a bit, but mostly we see increases in resolution, frequency, and speed of analysis. This clearly improves the odds of making a discovery and reduces the financial risks of drilling.

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Blog Feature

Privacy

Data Privacy Day Is a Good Time to Think about ECM and the Cloud

Data Privacy Day began in the United States and Canada in January 2008 as an extension of the Data Protection Day celebration in Europe. Data Protection Day commemorates the January 28, 1981, signing of Convention 108, the first legally binding international treaty dealing with privacy and data protection. Data Privacy Day is now a celebration for everyone, observed annually on January 28. One aspect of the complicated set of Data Privacy issues facing companies and individuals that AIIM has focused on has been the implication of pending European Data Protection Regulations as they relate to the storage and management of content in the Cloud. The AIIM publication is the most comprehensive view I know of European laws and regulations related to the Cloud.

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14 Steps to a Successful ECM Implementation

Making an ECM implementation successful requires planning and attention to detail. The best way to create the right solution is to identify organizational goals and priorities. Learn how to manage a successful implementation in our free guide.

Blog Feature

Change Management

Change Management: From Chaos to Transformation

Change permeates and envelopes us, and is the one constant in our lives. Think of all the workplace changes in just the past few years related to how we create, use, share, retain, and dispose of information. Our ever-increasing need to collaborate and communicate, to analyze and innovate, and to “be mobile” has led to sometimes massive change to existing technologies as well as new solutions that enable us to attain our objectives. Since change is inevitable, then why is the lack of managing that change the number one reason technology projects fail? The oldest and strongest emotion in mankind is fear, with fear of the unknown topping the list. So perhaps it is fear of the unknown that is behind the failure to adopt, accept, and enable change. Often, change management efforts focus on process changes and training employees on those revised processes required by the implementation of new technologies. There is so much more to change management, however, than a training plan and a communication protocol. Where change management is really needed is on the “people side” of change. What are some obvious signs of employee resistance to change? Decline in productivity as employees feel de-motivated Key employees get frustrated and quit Work-arounds (often very creative!) escalate A culture of failure grows, and employees ask themselves, “why bother?” Deterioration in morale and employees spend a lot of time sharing in the misery A mistrust of management and leadership due to a lack of transparency and availability Employees proactively try to sabotage the system Let’s look at the other side of the coin now, where change is embraced and integrated. The impact to the bottom line can be significant. Adapting to change (and doing so quickly) in response to marketplace needs or technology innovation can result in a competitive advantage, increased market share, and profits. Organizations that refuse to change get left behind. Of course, not all change management efforts are the same. The magnitude of the change (type, scope, size, number of employees affected, etc.), the potential resistance, and a vision of what the change will look like are all significant factors in determining the complexity of a change management strategy. An initial impact analysis will help define the capacity for change. However, if there is one key critical success factor to all change management initiatives, it is a clear demonstration of leadership support. Is there a leadership team that is accountable for the success of the change? Do leaders invest their personal time and attention to following through on actions related to the change? Come join me at AIIM where, straight from the trenches, I will share real-life examples of successful change management efforts as well as epic failures. We’ll investigate the winning formula for successful integration of change into the organization – whether it’s a change in information management roles and responsibilities, process and procedures, and / or technology. Incorporating key change management principles will increase the success of change management initiatives by applying a structured framework of methods, tools, and processes, to manage the change from current to future state and realize real ROI.

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Blog Feature

Intelligent Information Management (IIM)  |  Process Improvement

Reengineer Your Content Process or Fail

We've been interviewing the sponsors of the upcoming AIIM Conference for their predictions for the future of the industry, a preview of the conference, and a look at some of the biggest challenges facing information professionals right now. Here, I sat down with Dave White, Chief Technology Officer at Quark, to chat about content processes.

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Blog Feature

Electronic Records Management (ERM)  |  Enterprise Content Management (ECM)

What’s in Your ECM and ERM Systems?

In this series of interviews, we've been chatting with The AIIM Conference sponsors to get a preview of their upcoming sessions. Here, I sat down with Brian Tuemmler from Nuix. We explore some of the shortcomings of Enterprise Content Management (ECM) systems and implementations. Brian talks about some clever new ways to approach ECM and how Nuix can help. What's in Your ECRM System? Brian Tuemmler is an Information Governance Program Architect with Nuix.

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Blog Feature

Big Data  |  Digital Transformation  |  Intelligent Information Management (IIM)

The #AIIM15 Digital Transformation Hot Seat: The Dark and Dirty of Big Data

As we start to think about #AIIM15, I thought I would ask a number of our sponsors a few identical questions in order to get an understanding of how they see the future of our industry -- and let those of you attending start to think about your own questions to ask them in San Diego. Here are the three questions I'll ask: What are the three biggest challenges you see your customers facing while trying to “Embrace the Chaos”? What do you see as the three most important trends related to Information Management facing organizations over the next 18-24 months? What will be different in our industry two years from now? What are the three most important things attendees should know about your company?

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