AIIM Knowledge Center Blog

Managing Content Securely: You are not alone!

In his 100 Day Press Conference this week, President Obama eluded to the challenges of managing content and access to that content securely and in a controlled manner as to balance the right of the public to know and the need to protect State Secrets.  As reported by CBS News, President Obama is quoted as saying "But searching for ways to redact -- to carve out certain cases -- to see what can be done so that a judge in chambers can review information without it being in open court, you know, there should be some additional tools so that it's not such a blunt instrument,"  The use of the term redact, or to block out certain bits of information,  is a clear indication of the challenges faced by this Administration and our Government but also by each and every business owner and stakeholder.

If you operate under the premise that information and content created and used in an organization belongs to that organization, you should also accept that it is the responsibility of the organization to protect it from unwanted and unauthorized access. This includes the act of providing information to those individuals who have a need to know but the question now becomes one of how much information do they have a right to see and we must provide? Is it OK to make public the details of our secret formulas and software code upon inquiry, even in times of litigation, or must we “carve out” certain elements of the information to protect its integrity and our business or Government? The latter scenario prevails but how to did it is the real question.

In the paper world, we would make a copy, redact the copy and provide the redacted copy to the requestor. In the electronic world this too is the proper process but the tools we have allow us to be more effective, efficient and responsive. Today’s ECM and ERM technologies provide the functionality we need to redact information with the additional ability of capturing the activity in an audit log to identify when it was done and by whom.

Redaction and information security is or should be a vital part of your operational processes and policies. It is also a key part of the discussions we have in our training programs. www.aiim.org/training

I am curious how you address this issue today. What say you?  look forward to hearing from you.

Bob Larrivee - AIIM

Will Sun rise at Oracle?

It was announced on April 20, 2009 that Oracle has plans to snap up Sun Microsystems pending Sun stockholder and other regulatory approvals. Indications are that both companies will continue to operate independently in a business as usual mode. Over the years I have heard this song before with the acquisition of Lotus by IBM, Wang software by Kodak, Documentum by EMC and many others. Overtime, we find that resistance to change is futile and eventually they become one flying the same flag or it does not work and the acquired either die off or are cut loose and sold off.

In this case, I think it will make life interesting all around as Oracle will now be able to expand into the realm of one stop shop for all elements of enterprise computing, not to mention the impact it will have on Java in both advancing and protecting it, but can Oracle truly let Sun do what it needs to do and support it financially and if not do they have the ability to run a company like Sun effectively?

No matter what happens, if this goes through as planned, I think our industry will see some interesting scenarios unfold in development and the marketplace for one stop solutions. Of course there are those who feel placing trust in a single vendor is not always best and will still look for options. Which are you?

What thoughts do you have about this pending deal and the impact it may or may not have in our space? I look forward to hearing from you.

Bob Larrivee - AIIM

What is Enterprise 2.0?

What is Enterprise 2.0?

View more presentations from Atle Skjekkeland.

Sharpen your skills with focused training

You have been given a new challenge and need to come up to speed quickly or you have completed the AIIM certificate program and want more detail in a specific area. Enter AIIM Essentials.

AIIM Essentials is a series of short online educational programs designed to provide you with an unbiased focus on specific topics relevant to today’s changing technological and business landscape. The technology series delivers vendor neutral perspectives on technology tools and how and what to look for when evaluating solution, while the business series addresses the many challenges of governance and management when applying these technologies to a business problem.

AIIM, in partnership with Industry Experts from around the world, have brought this series together for you. Each non-certificate program is approximately 4 – 6 hours in length spread across several modules, using a narrated eLearning format, making it easy to join a session and complete the program at your leisure, from anywhere at any time using your internet connection and browser.

Current offerings include:

• Fundamentals of Web Content Management Technologies
• Evaluating SharePoint
• Evaluating SharePoint for Enterprise Deployment
• Fundamentals of Digital Asset Management Technologies
• Fundamentals of Electronic Discovery
• Imaging and Recognition
• Fundamentals of Enterprise Portal Technology
• PDF/A

Register today! The cost is $395 per program and you have one full year of access to the materials.

You may also want to check out our full line of Certificate programs in ECM, ERM, BPM, IOA, EMM and Enterprise 2.0 as well.

 

Bob Larrivee - AIIM

 

What is Electronic Records Management?

What is Electronic Records Management?

View more presentations from Atle Skjekkeland.

Modernizing Patient Records: Will it really work?

As I have said in the past, I think the efforts by our current administration and President Obama is highly commendable. I think the suggestion and action to move our healthcare system into a digital state is long overdue but I just can’t help feeling that making patient records digital is not going far enough.

Thinking about process and how healthcare providers interact with the insurance industry is one of the areas where I get stuck. As an example, my family Physician has made the move to digital records already. He saw and understood the benefit early on. Where it falls flat for him is the majority of insurers and benefits administration firms he deals with require that he send hard copy rather than digital records for processing, partially defeating the purpose of going digital. Secondly, there appears to be no standard as yet for hospitals, clinics and practitioners to correspond and exchange information.

Recently, I was injured in a fall. I went to a local hospital for treatment and was given electronic files of the x-rays and diagnosis to take back for the follow-up visit with my Physician.  Knowing my Physician had transitioned to the digital age; I had high hopes and was excited that this was really happening. My excitement soon came back to reality when I presented the CD to my Physician who looked at it and determined he could not import the information to his system. Not compatible, not surprising.

Within the ECM world, we have dealt with this for many years and the time is now that things are changing with the emerging Content Management Interoperability Standard (CMIS). Looking at this historically, and the scenario I faced with my own records, I have no choice but to wonder if the efforts for patient records while admirable and much needed will fall short. We need to move in this direction and I fully support it but I also feel we need to step back and look at the bigger picture. How long has it taken our industry to work out a standard and how long will it take for the healthcare system? I know that standards develop over time but is there a way to leverage what has been done already even if it is not specific to an industry like healthcare and wouldn’t it make sense to begin there? I am not hearing a lot about this.

In order for this effort to be effective in healthcare there needs to be:

-          A set of universally accepted interoperability standards established for information and content of all types and formats

-          Consideration for the on and off ramps of information within a process

-          A plan as to how other entities like the insurance and benefit claims segments will interact with healthcare providers so they too will be part of the solution and not be seen as part of the problem

Now I know I have not covered everything but the point I am trying to make is that the opportunity is here today for the ECM and Healthcare communities to come together and work toward the common goal of managing information and content regardless of format and type. The objective of universal access to patient records in a secure environment is nothing new nor is it out of reach. What remains to be seen is how this transition is approached, planned and executed.

What say you on this topic? I look forward to hearing from you and remember, AIIM provides the training you need to jump start your information management projects. www.aiim.org/training

Bob Larrivee - AIIM

Forever set in our ways

In the 1980’s when imaging first came about, the vendor community of which I was part, made the claim that we would still do things the way we always did and imaging would have no impact on those processes. We lied. We did not know it then, and it was not intentional, we just did not realize the impact it would have on everyone.

The same holds true today, though it is not the vendors telling us technology won’t change the way we work, it is us, telling ourselves we won’t change. Many times I have heard those in an organization say there is no need to change what we do because it has always worked and still works today. While this is true to a degree, if we do not change our ways eventually we fall behind, become less efficient than our competition and begin to lose customers. As an organization, we need to improve and strive to better ourselves and our service levels. The approach to change is what makes the difference.

When we plan for an ECM implementation we need to look at the user’s world. We need to understand how they get things done today and plan for how things will get done tomorrow with ECM. The only way to do this effectively is to include user feedback from the beginning of the project. Inclusion of a user representative on the project team and establishment of a communication plan help to gain user acceptance of the project and support for the new ways of working with technology.  

How have you addresses change management in your organization? What steps did you take in gaining support from the users? What suggestions might you have for readers of this blog?

I look forward to hearing from you and remember that AIIM can help you address change in your organization. Change is part of the discussion in our educational offerings. www.aiim.org/training

 

Bob Larrivee - AIIM

New Capture ROI Survey

Centralised, distributed, outsourced . . . whether you scan small-time or big-time, we’d like to hear about your experiences. What are the drivers for centralised or distributed capture? What levels of ROI are you getting? How many of your business systems are “capture-enabled”? 

 

To complete the survey click here. All completed surveys will be entered in a prize draw for an Apple iPod Touch 32 Mb worth over $400. 

 

To read the results of our last survey, download a free copy of the 18-page “State of the ECM Industry” report.

The show is over, but the stories live on

It is Thursday evening. The convention center transforms back into an open room waiting for the next big event. Booths come down and vendors go home. The show is over, but the stories live on. Stories of sessions where lessons were learned, vendors visited and receptions attended. Old friends catching up and new friends made. These are some of the stories remembered from the AIIM Conference. There are other stories to be told as well.

 One really stood out strong answering the demand by users for interoperability and the industry’s response with movement toward CMIS (Content Management Interoperability Standard). In my opinion, the concept and development of this standard is good for our industry and the user community. The idea that systems should be able to interact with one another transparently to the user, is not new but the fact that we are now seeing strong movement in this direction is. I applaud those who are taking the initiative to move this forward and encourage more to join in.

I also had the opportunity to meet with some of the vendors and attendees and find there are resonating tones within our industry. Users are asking for solutions, not technology. They want to know how they can process payables faster, automate mail room activities, address audits in a more timely fashion and minimize risk. They want to hear how an ECM environment will help them in times of economic downturn not how software is built or how to use a toolkit to make things happen. They want to know how SharePoint and other ECM products interact with each other. Is Open Source a viable option or would it best serve my organization to choose a more “traditional” approach.

As I roamed the floor and spoke with a variety of vendors, I felt they have heard this cry from the users and are rising to meet their demands and expectations. The message from the vendor community is addressing these concerns with focus on:

·         Protecting current ECM investments whether hardware or software

·         Simplicity and ease of use

·         Near complete solutions aimed at business activity not based on technology

·         Use/support of Open Source and even SaaS options

I also learned the channel of distribution is growing with resellers seeking partnerships that enable them to expand their capabilities and enhance their business applications to meet their customer demands. These resellers seek functionality that continues to evolve and strengthen while at the same time, simplifying the interface for us humans.

I want to thank and recognize those vendors who took time to meet with me this week and encourage those of you reading this blog to visit their sites and see for yourself the exciting steps they are taking toward the future and meeting your demands. In alphabetical order, thank you to:

A2iA, ABBYY, Alfresco, AnyDoc, Hyland Software, Kodak, LaserFiche, Optical Image Technology, and Visioneer.

The time of ECM is here and the time to act is now. Make time to learn, plan and take control of your information. A great place to start is with AIIM. You may not have been able to join us here in Philly but there is no reason you can’t join us now. Visit www.aiim.org for more information, www.aiim.org/training to find a class that meets your needs and fits your schedule and www.informationzen.org to become part of the fastest growing global network of ECM enthusiasts in the world.

 Bob Larrivee - AIIM

Dateline Philadelphia: AIIM Attendees Look Ahead

Here at the annual AIIM Conference in Philadelphia, PA, perched above the masses where the tone is one of excitement about where our industry is and where it is going, I have been approached several times by students of the pre-conference training informing me of the value they gained from their training session. They are also telling me that they are excited to be part of this industry as this is seen as part of the solution to many corporate problems of efficiency, risk management and reduction in operating costs.

Recent directives from the Government have spurred a significant increase in the need to identify and understand the industry Best Practices and learn implementation methodologies that will enable them to successfully achieve their information and process management goals. In all cases, they cite AIIM as the resource of choice to acquire this training, learn from industry experts and network with a peer group that is unrivaled and as welcoming as family.

We are here in Philadelphia for two more days. We are here for you all of the time. Check us out at www.aiim.org and find the training program that is right for you at www.aiim.org/training.

Bob Larrivee - AIIM