The AIIM Blog
Keep your finger on the pulse of Intelligent Information Management with industry news, trends, and best practices.
Intelligent Information Management (IIM)
The explosion of information is making way for a new strategy to align business policies with people and technology. The following steps are my take on ways in which organizations can be successful in creating and implementing intelligent information management practices in this challenging environment.
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You are not too small for Document Management. Size doesn’t matter; the junk drawer in your kitchen is just as big a headache as the pile of boxes in your garage. Not addressing document management means you are likely to fail at some point to find the right information for the job. It also means you might be paying to keep information you no longer need. If you’re big enough to get sued, you’re big enough to be forced into e-discovery. If you plan to stay in business, you are going to have new employees at some point. Document Management addresses all these issues.
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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.
Compliance | Enterprise Content Management (ECM)
Regulations are complex and can’t be ignored. One of the challenges of being regulated is understanding exactly which regulations apply to your business. You may face “horizontal” reporting regulations, such as those contained in Sarbanes-Oxley that apply to all publicly-held companies. Or, you may be subject to vertical market-specific regulations such as HIPAA in health care or the FDA’s 21 CFR 11 rules. Or, you may face a raft of regulations from different governments and agencies. One thing is for sure; you can’t pretend these regulations don’t exist or hope they go away. Non-compliance may present a very real legal and financial risk to your organization.
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Information Governance | Sharepoint and Office 365
It shouldn’t be a big surprise that Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 (MOSS) is incredibly popular and powerful as a basic content repository. Microsoft claimed $1 billion in revenue from sales of the software in 2007. A recent survey by AIIM indicates that SharePoint is rapidly becoming pervasive within the enterprise. Of those responding to the survey, 83% said they either currently use or likely will be using Microsoft SharePoint. There are also many reports of SharePoint deployment projects being derailed or having less than desired results. Some of these are related to a lack of features necessary for an organization, such as more robust records management or a more controlled repository, but many are because of the lack of SharePoint governance.
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Enterprise Content Management (ECM)
Without commitment, there’s no point in moving forward. In my opinion, the single most critical element in building an Enterprise Content Management (ECM) strategy is commitment. I’m talking about the type of commitment you make when you jump out of a plane. Not that I’m suggesting ECM is like skydiving; if skydiving goes wrong, the pain doesn’t last. Commitment can’t be limited to a select few within the organization. For sure, the senior leadership team needs to demonstrate its commitment, but commitment needs to be present throughout the organization. Consider this: regardless of how committed the senior leadership team is, if the rank and file don’t buy in failure is guaranteed. So how do you get commitment? Find out what resonates and build from there. Is the motivator risk mitigation, environmental responsibility, competitive advantage, or access to information? The likely scenario is that the motivator changes depending on whom you’re talking to. Your job is to sell the program to your stakeholders on their terms, not yours.
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Not all SMBs are the same. I work for an insurance company with about 30 people, but we are more like an insurance company than we are like most 30-person organizations. We have Accounting, Underwriting, Claims, Loss Control, IT -- all the things you would expect to find in an insurance company. The nature of our business simply allows us to function with a small staff. On the other hand, we are not enough like an insurance company to find value in the marketing materials you give to large insurance companies. If you want to market to us, you’re just going to have to get to know us. In many cases, given the amount of effort you (vendors) have to make for the limited amount of sales we can provide, it seems like you aren’t really interested. Or, you are only interested when the economy is bad – I’m hearing from a lot of interested vendors today.
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