AIIM Knowledge Center Blog

War Stories and Lessons Learned: Tale of a South Florida City

2009-07-06T11:54:11-04:00

Our story begins in the City of Cape Coral, population 160,000, found in sunny Southwest Florida. I had the opportunity to talk with Scott Craig, ECMs, BPMp who was hired in 2003 as a Document Imaging Technician and is now a Business Systems Analyst.

Thank you for participating in this series Scott. I know our readers will appreciate hearing your story.

Bob: Tell us a little but about your organization and project.

Scott: The daunting task my group was tasked with was the conversion of building permits / plans. This took place during and all the way through the end of the housing boom, with our peak being over 800 single family permits issued in March of 2005. This accumulation of permits and plans forced us into a 4,000 sq. ft. warehouse to store the overabundance of boxes. I quickly learned that the existing processes and software/hardware had to be enhanced or we would be forced to lease additional warehouse space. I met with a few area vendors and began my searches on the Internet.

Bob: What barriers did you encounter initially?

Scott: The main barrier that we ran into was selling an improvement to our leaders; therefore, we had to draw a picture of the future. Our old document system was not web based and did not have a web client, which meant IT staff had to maintain an application. We had approximately twelve staff members utilizing the old system. Selling IT on the web client was a snap; other barriers were retention, security, conversion revisions, and user’s licensing. All of these were addressed in presentations from various vendors to the IT staff. The picture was drawn and the next step was the RFP process and implementation. Implementation was finally completed in January 2006, 3 years later. Needless to say, within those 3 years a lot of boxes had accumulated.

Bob: What steps did you take to overcome those barriers?

Scott: I came across AIIM and was amazed at all the information that pertained to our particular predicament. I quickly became a member and gained access to the documents and standards. I still boast today when I consult with other government agencies that, "AIIM laid the foundation for our successful electronic document management system."

Now it was time to get to work. I was surprised to find ISO standards on how to prep documents, but low and behold, I was able to find them through AIIM. Our new system was taking off and one of the major unrealized benefits was sharing documents with other agencies. Right away, we eliminated trucking boxes of paper across the river to our county appraiser’s office. The new system had grown to over 200 users. Access to hard-to-find documents was instantaneous now. Additional staff needed to be trained; we continue to have trainings 3-4 times a year on the system in addition to upgrading, audits, and quality control. All of these features / factors are necessary to maintain an effective system. The 5 year backlog is currently down to about 6 months!

Bob: What lesson do you feel you learned from this project?

Scott: Probably the biggest lesson I learned, and I have seen this happen to other projects, but without a "champion" , someone to follow the project through from the beginning all the way through to the ongoing training and updates years later, the projects seems to go stale or fail all together. So having a champion and rewarding that person at milestones keeps a vested interest in the project and the company as well.

Bob: What would you recommend to others who are about to embark on their projects?

Scott: If I was to embark on this venture again, I would spend more time on setting up taxonomy and have more staff trained through AIIM before we began the process. We currently have 3 staff members trained through AIIM, including myself. Changes and/or updates to the electronic records and processes are more efficient since we are all aware of the standards and best practices within the industry.

Bob: In closing, is there anything you would like to add about this project or your AIIM training that might benefit those reading this article?

Scott: Train, train, train, Technology is always evolving, train key staff members before the project and then continue with training the users on an ongoing basis.

I want to thank you again Scott. I know our readers appreciate hearing from those who have lived the implementation experience.

What say you? Have you lived the implementation experience? Do you have a story to tell? I want to hear from you and learn what you and your organization are doing.

Bob Larrivee – AIIM

Follow me on twitter – BobLarrivee and remember to visit www.aiim.org/training and www.informationzen.org, AIIM’s free social network created just for you.

A Celebration of Freedom

2009-07-03T09:36:39-04:00

It is the 4^th of July! It is a time many consider to be the official launch into summer and enjoy well deserved vacations. It is the time we Americans set aside to celebrate our freedom and reflect on how lucky we are as a nation. It is a time we remember what it took to be free and what it takes to stay free. There will be parades, cook outs, concerts and fireworks that friends and families will enjoy and keep in their memories. Freedom is a wonderful thing yet in business are we really free?

Think about your business and the content related to that business. Are you controlling and managing it or does it manage you? Does information flow through your organization seamlessly or does it get trapped and wait or cause others to wait while it slowly makes its way through to the people who need it? Is it readily accessible and available to everyone who needs it when they need it or do they have to chase around looking for it? How about your email? Do you have a simple and easy way to find something someone sent you or do you spend time navigating the folders of your inbox, reading each item until you finally locate it, if you can locate it?

Freedom is a wonderful thing but it requires hard work to gain and effort to maintain. Freedom from bonds of content is no different. You have to set your vision and goals for how your organization will work and content will be managed. You have to build a strategy and plan how you will implement the change in your organization, the processes you use and select the tools you will use in meeting the content management challenge head on to gain your freedom from content.

On behalf of the team here at AIIM, I hope you have a wonderful and safe holiday weekend. Upon your return to work, take time to contact AIIM at www.aiim.org/training and learn how you can take those first steps toward freedom when dealing with content management.

What say you? Are you free from the bonds of content or does your content manage you? I want to hear from you and learn what you and your organization are doing.

Bob Larrivee – AIIM

Follow me on twitter – BobLarrivee and remember to visit www.aiim.org/training and www.informationzen.org, AIIM’s free social network created just for you.

Enterprise 2.0: Are you ready?

2009-07-01T20:58:54-04:00

For the last several years, more and more people have started to talk about Enterprise 2.0 and look at these tools as a viable alternative. Although our own research has shown that understanding and lack of viable case studies has hindered progress, the technology has not stood still.

Today, many of the features and functionalities that we know and end-users have come to expect from their external and web-based applications have moved into the extended enterprise. Social Networks, Blogs and Wikis are both accepted and used in large and small organizations to improve information sharing, collaboration and communication. The technology strategy is probably to easiest to deal with and often gives the least amount of challenges. Users however have a certain motivation for using these tools outside of their workplace, but inside the workplace this is a different issue.

An implementation needs to deal with more than just new procedures, it needs to be transported across and be integrated with the beliefs and values of employees as they put all of their information, data and knowledge into the new tools. The main aspects here are:

Structure
Process
Current Practises
Team Strategy
Communication
Innovation
Leadership
Strategy
Industry
Technology

Each one of these need to be evaluated! How are they influenced by culture and how do they influence culture. Also, is this a hindrance or a boon to Enterprise 2.0 Ways of Working?

The best way to do this is a spider-web chart onto which each one of these factors is captured and then filled out by employees, management and senior management. This can then help to identify shortcomings and whole, both in reality as well as perception.

Each one of these factors needs evaluation and an acceptance of the conclusions to go forward in order to improve. Best practice and experience however tells us that this is not always easy or even achievable. But not looking into these factors and not accepting the conclusions of the analysis is a sure-fire way of not achieving the goals you set out to achieve. Which brings me to the main issue of needing - A solid Business Strategy!

Here it is important to realize what the organization is trying to achieve; first as a business organization, and second with the use of these new tools and ways of working. It is surprising how many organizations are still struggling to reach a consensus on business strategy and how to move forwards as an organization. What are the Critical Success Factors and how can they be measured? Is it only about more turnover and margin or is there more to it than that? Once these have been defined and accepted, then it is time to bring in Enterprise 2.0.

What are the areas defined as part of the organizational culture that need more support and need to be improved. Which tools can help us to achieve this? Is it collaboration or findability we are trying to improve, or is it an email replacement strategy? Maybe improve customer service, speed up a process and create a new Reality by having Wiki’s instead of classical Document Management Systems, giving people more places to leave their ideas to drive Innovation inside the organization and across departments? Each one of these goals needs to be looked at, evaluated, and checked against the stakeholders in the organization, this is not as easy as it seems.

Finally some free advice for every organization before moving your project forward. Remember that these tools can generate a huge amount of additional unstructured content. Some of it is very much relevant, may be discoverable and may need to fall under whatever Records Management Policy is already in place. These tools may present new problems in each one of those areas. Let’s also not forget that content is created in many different places and these tools may need to integrate with a number of existing applications.

Enterprise 2.0 is full of opportunities, but it also presents its own set of challenges that need to be faced before an implementation can be deemed a success. There are plenty of examples out there where this is the case, but rather than re-invent the wheel, make sure you sign up for some best practice training first. Why not try AIIM’s Enterprise 2.0 Certificate program on www.aiim.org/freetraining and use the code E25PA9?

The author of this post is Hanns Kohler-Kruner, my colleague and one of the Enterprise 2.0 trainers of AIIM. Hanns can be reached by email at hkohlerkruner@aiim.eu or www.twitter.com/hannskk

What say you? Are you ready for Enterprise 2.0? Have you or are you now incorporating Web 2.0 technology into your business environment and practices? We want to hear from you and learn what you and your organization are doing.

Bob Larrivee – AIIM

Follow me on twitter – BobLarrivee and remember to visit www.aiim.org/training and www.informationzen.org, AIIM’s free social network created just for you.

Content Control and Access Still at Issue

2009-06-29T16:14:00-04:00

It is June of 2009, and businesses continue to struggle with the ever growing issue of managing content of all types from all sources. Content is still unmanaged and out of control. Organizations have become somewhat paralyzed in moving forward with implementing or enhancing their ECM environments due mainly to an uncertainty of where to begin or how to improve what they have in place. This is supported by AIIM's recently released State of the ECM Industry 2009 Report that shows 75% of the organizations polled do not currently address content created or contained in Instant Messages, Blogs and Wikis and email is still out of control with 55% of organizations reporting they have little or no confidence that important emails are recorded, complete and retrievable.

These numbers, while not surprising are somewhat alarming in the sense that as technology and the ability to create and share information is advancing, organizations are lagging behind in accepting and addressing them appropriately which in turn can put them at risk of non-compliance and increase their costs to find and defend information in times of audit, discovery, and litigation.

AIIM Essentials Programs provide targeted training for organizations trying to address their growing content issues

AIIM expanded its online Essentials programs, providing focus on business critical topics related to best practices in Enterprise Content Management (ECM). Available immediately, these programs can benefit students looking to increase their knowledge base as standalone programs or as an enhancement to the internationally recognized AIIM Certificate programs.

As business climates change and technology evolves, we will continue to monitor the industry and add to our AIIM Essentials offerings in the months and years to come.

What say you? Have you in the past or are you still struggling with content? How have you or are you dealing with it? I want to hear from you and learn what you and your organization are doing.

Bob Larrivee – AIIM

Email research from 800+ organizations

2009-06-29T13:45:40-04:00

AIIM Email Management Industry Watch presentation

View more documents from Atle Skjekkeland.

The full report is available for FREE from AIIM research.

How bad are you?

2009-06-29T10:58:59-04:00

AIIM do a lot of research and some of the findings are quite scary;

34% of organizations never delete emails, 31% have no policy, 8% delete when running out of storage space, 27% delete after 1- 24 months
Some 45% of organizations do not have a policy on Outlook “Archive settings” so most users will likely create .pst archive files on local drives.
33% of organizations have no policy to deal with legal discovery, 40% would likely have to search back-up tapes, and 23% feel they would have gaps from deleted emails.
18% had been exposed to a legal challenge in the last 12 months and a further 15% in the last 3 years – a one-in-three chance.

The above findings are from our AIIM Email Management Industry Watch, and we are now planning the Electronic Records Management Industry Watch that will be introduced in September 2009. Solution providers interested in sponsoring the research (lead gen) should contact jryan@aiim.org ASAP.

The Power of Open Source: Implementing ECM with MIKE2.0

2009-06-26T13:30:47-04:00

When you hear the term Open Source, it is often related to software as this is where the initial concept began. Open Source software is typically developed outside of the normal realm of a corporation, by several individuals, with the intent of providing it for free to any and all willing to use it. This includes the source code itself and if you are able to enhance it, the modifications are welcome and provided back to the community to be shared with others. Software is not the only element to leverage this concept. Today, there is the sharing of methodologies to include as part of the Open Source community. MIKE2.0 is one of these elements.

Originally developed by Bearing Point, MIKE2.0 is an Open Source delivery framework for information management across an enterprise that provides project level flexibility using a 5 phased framework. This strong and proven implementation methodology provides a very practical step-by-step approach for implementing ECM. The 5 phases to the MIKE2.0 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

This iterative approach of MIKE2.0 divides the development and rollout of an entire system into implementation cycles defining and prioritizing portions of the system for construction and deployment. 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. This approach ensures higher levels of success and user acceptance.

AIIM has chosen the MIKE2.0 methodology to be the foundation for the AIIM ECM Specialist Certificate program. Not only is it a recognized and proven methodology, the fact is Open Source means that over time it will become more refined and evolve to continue meeting the stringent demands of successful implementations and on going continuous improvement for ECM environments.

The time is now to take the necessary steps to learn about implementation approaches based on Open standards. The time is now to register for the AIIM ECM Certificate program, until August 31 you can book selected AIIM ECM Master Class for 30% discount, contact training@aiim.org for the details.

What say you? Have you or are you using MIKE2.0 as your implementation standard? If not, why? I want to hear from you and learn what you and your organization are doing.

Bob Larrivee – AIIM

Follow me on twitter – BobLarrivee and remember to visit www.aiim.org/training and www.informationzen.org, AIIM’s free social network created just for you.

MONDAY MADNESS - Name your price for the online AIIM IOA Practitioner course!

2009-06-26T11:52:20-04:00

On Monday June 29, AIIM is letting you name your price for the online IOA Practitioner course – Learn how to improve Findability and Enterprise Search – Regular price to members $600

Pay what you think it is worth; Pay what you can afford – receive 24-7 access to AIIM's Information Organization and Access (IOA) Practitioner course for 6 months.

Course?
The IOA Practitioner course provides you with a thorough understanding of;

Finding, Inventorying, and Analyzing Content

Metadata and Taxonomy

Ontologies, Topic Maps, and Semantic Networks

Content Modelling

Access and Search Techniques

Advanced Topics in Findability and Information Retrieval

User Experience of Information Access

Earn the AIIM IOA Practitioner (IOAp) designation after passing the online exams. For further details go to www.aiim.org/ioatraining

Feedback?

"The class was truly the best training class I have ever taken!", Attendee from Chicago, IL
"I would recommend this course to both vendors and customers of ECM solutions." Attendee from Cleveland, OH
"I would like to take the opportunity to thank all at AIIM for delivering an excellent course from which I have learnt an enormous amount of invaluable information." Attendee from Reading, UK

Why?
Because times are tough and we are committed to being your information management resource while assisting you in making informed and efficient business decisions. No strings attached.

How Does It Work?
It's too crazy an idea for our IT infrastructure to support, so we are going to get personal and have you contact the AIIM Training team at +1 301 755 2631 or +1 301 755 2674 alternatively email us training@aiim.org to make the transaction.

Only credit cards can be accepted. Leave a voicemail with your name and number if all lines are busy.

We will accept your price even if we are not able to get back to you by end of the day as long as it is logged between 8am and 8pm EDT June 29.

To learn more about AIIM training, please visit www.aiim.org/training

Required functionality for Enterprise 2.0?

2009-06-26T08:32:20-04:00

Enterprise 2.0 (E2.0) or social software for an enterprise must according to Andrew McAfee, Associate Professor, Harvard Business School have the following functionality to work well:

Search: allow users to search for other users or content
Links: group similar users or content together
Authoring: include blogs and wikis
Tags: allow users to tag content
Extensions: recommendations of users or content based on profile
Signals: allow people to subscribe to users or content with RSS feeds

McAfee recommends that the software must be easy to use and not impose any rigid structure for users. The roll-out should be informal, but on a common platform to enable future collaboration between areas. He also recommends strong and visible managerial support to achieve this.

The above list was expanded upon by Dion Hinchcliffe in 2007 by adding the following 4 functions:

Freeform: no barriers to authorship, i.e. free from a learning curve or restrictions.
Network-oriented: all content must be Web-addressable.
Social: stresses transparency (to access), diversity (in content and community members) and openness (to structure)
Emergence: must provide approaches that detect and leverage the collective wisdom of the community.

The McAfee’s model is called the SLATES framework, and Hinchcliffe’s model is called the FLATNESSES framework. Learn more about these models, but also how well does different E2.0 technologies support these frameworks, by signing up for the AIIM Enterprise 2.0 Certificate Program.

Question, - what else is needed for Enterprise 2.0? Any missing functions?

What are the benefits of Enterprise 2.0?

2009-06-25T20:17:56-04:00

AIIM defines Enterprise 2.0 (E2.0) as a system of web-based technologies that provide rapid and agile collaboration, information sharing, emergence and integration capabilities in the extended enterprise. What does this mean for you? AIIM introduced last year an Enterprise 2.0 Certificate Program that covers the WHY, WHAT and HOW to implement E2.0, and the below matrix provides you with a few examples on how different E2.0 tools can support your business.

Press here to access a free presentation that explains E2.0 in more detail, but I also recommend you to sign up for the AIIM Enterprise 2.0 Practitioner course. E2.0 is coming (its already impacting the industry), and you can prepare for the future by becoming an AIIM Enterprise 2.0 Practitioner.

Win an evening with the President!

2009-06-25T09:40:34-04:00

Sign up for an AIIM Certificate Program to be part of a draw for a private dinner with AIIM's president Mr. John Mancini in DC. All course attendees in June, July and August will be part of this draw, and you can use this dinner to discuss industry trends, challenges, and opportunities, or the latest baseball results.

Please note that you have to cover your own travel and accommodation to DC, but AIIM can also offer you a $200 gift card if you are not able to travel to DC, or if you prefer a dinner with a friend or spouse.

Do you need presentations to educate colleagues?

2009-06-24T16:27:24-04:00

Visit Slideshare (require registration) do download free presentations that explain ECM, ERM, BPM, E2.0, IOA, EMM, and E2.0. The presentations are from the AIIM's Certificate programs, and please feel free to use the presentations to educate staff and customers about the benefits and necessary steps achieve the benefits.

What Is ECM?

View more OpenOffice presentations from Atle Skjekkeland.

Ensure that you know the real story behind the slides by becoming an AIIM Practitioner, Specialist or Master. Register now by visiting www.aiim.org/training

Beyond Technology: ISO/TR 15489 and Electronic Records Management

2009-06-24T16:26:01-04:00

Implementing electronic records management (ERM) solutions is more than introducing technology – it’s more than purchasing software and hoping for the best. It requires development of records management processes and controls. It requires creation of records management instruments with a lot of change management and communication as the organisation moves to an ERM-enabled way of working. ISO/TR 15489-2:2001 recognizes this.

The standard argues for the implementation of a sustainable records system including people, processes, and technologies. 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; and facilitate retention and disposition of records throughout the lifecycle. It also argues for a design and implementation methodology for such a system so it can be implemented uniformly.

ISO/TR 15489-2 provides such an implementation methodology, including the following 8 steps:

A. Conduct preliminary investigation

B. Analyse business activity

C. Identify requirements for records

D. Assess existing systems

E. Identify strategies to satisfy requirements

F. Design records system

G. Implement records system, and

H. Conduct post-implementation review

AIIM revised and updated the course material for its 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, Information and documentation -- Records management -- Part 2: Guidelines.

The time is now to take action to tighten control over your vital business records before litigation starts and before chaos strikes. The time is now to take the necessary steps to learn about implementation approaches based on industry standards. The time is now to register for the AIIM ERM Certificate program.

What say you? Have you or are you using ISO/TR 15489 as your implementation standard? If not, why? I want to hear from you and learn what you and your organization are doing.

Bob Larrivee – AIIM

Follow me on twitter – BobLarrivee and remember to visit www.aiim.org/training and www.informationzen.org, AIIM’s free social network created just for you.

Have Your Voice Heard

2009-06-22T16:31:09-04:00

As many of you know, I sign my blogs at the end with a question, What say you? It is a question that asks for your opinion on the topic at hand and many of you have provided interesting comments and feedback for which I am grateful and thankful. At this time I am asking again, what say you, but with a very specific focus in mind. I want to know your experiences and what is happening in your world so that it can be shared with others like you. I am beginning a series of interviews that I will post here on this blog to tell your story.

For those who have attended the AIIM Certificate programs whether on-line or in the classroom, I want to know what you have gained from it. How has this training been of benefit to you and your organization?

I am also interested to hear “War Stories” from those of you who have or are implementing ECM, ERM, E2.0, BPM, EMM and IOA in your organizations. What are the efforts you are taking, the problems you are facing and the barriers you have had or currently have to overcome.

Please do not comment directly to this site but rather send me a direct email at blarrivee@aiim.org to let me know your interest and availability for an interview. I look forward to hearing from you and helping you share your experiences.

Bob Larrivee – AIIM

Follow me on twitter – BobLarrivee and remember to visit www.aiim.org/training and www.informationzen.org, AIIM’s free social network created just for you.

Filling the gap: Social Media

2009-06-19T09:34:19-04:00

Technology is a great thing and I consider myself to be fortunate in having seen it evolve over the years from mainframe only to the portability of today’s PC and handhelds; from the bag phone to the iPhone and variations thereof. In the 80’s we saw the transition in business moving us from paper based information to digitized copies using imaging and typewritten documents to those created electronically using word processors. Incredible advances! Yet at many of the steps to get here, there was a feeling in the office that as communication and technology advanced, the world got smaller and we felt further apart. The technology kept us in our cubed world, minimizing the amount of social interaction in the office.

Enter social media. MySpace, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter to mention a few, have gained rapid acceptance and use, filling in the social gaps by allowing us to communicate with our family, friends and business associates at our convenience. We can read about their latest adventures and share ours. We can post business documents, video, photos from events in our life to share with others and provide links to things we like so they too may experience it. Rather than text one at a time we Tweet our peeps and share with all at once, quickly, simply and globally. Tools like Skype and OoVoo combined with a PC Camera allow us to talk and see each other live from anywhere in the world. The video phone has finally made become reality! (Only the phone company was not the first.)

As with all things, we are now being cautioned that too much social media can lead to emotional problems and cause us trouble in our lives. A recent news program featuring a Social Psychologist presenting in 30 second spot, how this social media is being used as a replacement for one to one interaction and society as a whole might find we are slipping into a state of isolationism when it comes to social skills. We feel perfectly comfortable in our online personalities and cannot relate in real life. There is also the added caution of emotional entanglements that could cause marriages to fail with divorce and lawsuits attached. Is this possible? I am sure it is, as it was possible when the telephone first came into widespread use and acceptance in our personal lives. The question may not be one of technology causing the problem as much as what is the root problem to begin with and move one in this direction. If technology were not available, would it have happened in another way?

As one who favors technology, though admittedly gets frustrated with it also, we should accept that it is here and can be of great benefit in our lives and businesses. In our personal lives we are able to communication and stay in touch with family and friends in ways we could only dream about even 5 years ago. Those who drifted apart over time and distance due to moves from company to company and geography to geography are reuniting and finding each other again. Companies who embrace this technology and open their minds to how it can be used are finding new opportunities within their existing client-base and new markets they could not easily reach in the past. For them, social media has become a new forum and registry where those seeking a solution can search and find others with like interests and options for their problems. The web has truly become a web of resource evolving into a fantastic global marketplace. It is how we use it that makes the difference. Can it cause problems? Yes, if we let it.

I say look to the future, embrace and use the tools we have before us and manage them. Do not let them manage you. If you are unsure of where to begin in harnessing the power of social media, Web 2.0, and how to advance your business into a state of Enterprise 2.0, seek a way to learn and grow with the technology. There are programs available to get you started like the AIIM Enterprise 2.0 Certificate Program that teaches about technology, governance, process and people in an Enterprise 2.0 world and Business Process Management (BPM) to help you harness and improve content flow throughout your organization.

What say you? Are you using social media for business and if so, how? If not, why? I want to hear from you and learn what you and your organization are doing.

Bob Larrivee – AIIM

Follow me on twitter – BobLarrivee and remember to visit www.aiim.org/training and www.informationzen.org, AIIM’s free social network created just for you.