AIIM Knowledge Center Blog

What language barrier?

I am here in Singapore ready to begin a week of great focus and discussion on BPM and through the fog of jet lag as I wondered what to write today, it dawned on me that I will write about language. One of the things I like most about travel is the chance to meet new people, whether in the airport, on the plane or in the classroom. My trip here took nearly 29 hours door to door from Tampa bringing me through Houston and Moscow before arriving here in Singapore. I got to meet many different folks from all over and learn a little about them as they did about me. One person asked how I overcome the language barrier to which I replied, we are not from the same place, English is not your first language as yours is not mine but here we are, conversing. I think in terms of ECM and BPM, it is easier to communicate because even though we may not speak the same “language”, we do speak the same language in terms of business problems and concerns.

 

In my view, language is the easy part to overcome and I have proven this time and again throughout my career having delivered presentations and lectures in many countries using interpreters and in some cases, drawings to make my point. The biggest problem we face is one of culture and cultural readiness. Is the organization ready to commit and make changes that to some may be counter to what they believe is the right way to do things. Think about this for a moment. Fundamentally, from a functional perspective, roles and organizations work the same. Marketing in the USA is carried out in the same way for Europe, Asia and all other parts of the world. The basic activities are there no matter where you are marketing markets, sales sells, etc. So, organizationally what changes is the issues related to that region or target market and how well the organization plans and executes.

 

While language may slow us down, it should not prevent us from making progress but rather become a driver to standardize and leverage best practices when and where we can to enhance our operations. When looking at enterprise opportunities that span the globe, communication will become easier when you speak the language of ECM.

 

 What say you? How well do you communication and speak the language of ECM? Do you have a story to tell? I want to hear from you and learn what you and your organization are doing.

 

Join us for the BPM Certificate course in:

London 01/26/10 - 01/29/10

New York 02/02/10 - 02/05/10

San Francisco 05/25/10 - 05/28/10

 

Join us for the ECM Certificate course in:

Silver Spring 01/19/10 - 01/22/10

Chicago 01/26/10 - 01/29/10

Phoenix 02/09/10 - 02/12/10

Utrecht 02/09/10 - 02/12/10

London 02/23/10 - 02/26/10

Tampa 02/23/10 - 02/26/10

Toronto 03/23/10 - 03/26/10

Kirkland 04/13/10 - 04/16/10

Dallas 04/27/10 - 04/30/10

San Diego 05/04/10 - 05/07/10

Denver 05/18/10 - 05/21/10

Calgary 05/25/10 - 05/28/10

London 06/01/10 - 06/04/10

Silver Spring 06/08/10 - 06/11/10

Houston 06/15/10 - 06/18/10

 

We look forward to seeing you there.

Bob Larrivee – AIIM blarrivee@aiim.org

 

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.

Oh how things have changed!

One thing I have heard and continue to hear over and over again in relation to business information is “Why can’t we do this like (put in the social network or online retailer of choice).” As social networking and online sales increase and the interfaces become more intuitive and navigable, workplace users are beginning to ask why. Expectations have changed not only for the user interface but also system performance, response times, and much more in our daily lives. I think Louis CK sums it up best in his interview with Conan where he discusses how much has changed and no one seems happy with what they have today.

 

This is a challenge we face in business that as technology progresses and continues to evolve and improve, the demand for the workplace to keep up increases and expectations on how we should operate and interact change accordingly. This is where Enterprise 2.0 enters the picture. Simply stated, Enterprise 2.0 is the application of Web 2.0 technologies within an organization behind the enterprise firewall. (Remember I said simply stated.) Fundamentally, Enterprise 2.0 is a system of web-based technologies that provide fast and flexible collaboration capabilities, increased information sharing and emergence, and expanded integration capabilities in the extended enterprise. So is it realistic to think we can do things different and still remain effective and efficient. Absolutely, but we need to plan and prepare for it.

 

In my view, Enterprise 2.0 and beyond is a direction businesses need to take seriously and embrace as part of the inevitable force of change. The way you prepare and embrace it will make the difference how well you succeed. One of the ways you can prepare is to leverage an established framework to help you assess your needs, current capabilities and gaps that need to be filled. One such framework is found in the works of Harvard Professor Andrew McAffee who in 2006 developed SLATES. SLATES can be used as a guide to help organizations assess and understand the capabilities of wikis, blogs and other such tools for use in the enterprise. The acronym SLATES when expanded, represents the following:

· Search - discoverability of information via search, browsing, metadata and taxonomies

· Links - the hyperlinked nature of most 2.0 environments, specifically writing by taking advantage of hyperlinking as a rich and relatively new capability for many systems

· Authorship - the ability of any and all users in a 2.0 environment having ready access to create, comment or edit content within the enterprise. This also relates to user driven content

· Tags - folksonomies and social bookmarking, or any freeform “tagging”

· Extensions - automated intelligence around content, which points out related information to users, surfaces usage patterns, and can lead to insights that provide business intelligence for the organisation

· Signals - providing a variety of proactive notifications to users, most typically based on the RSS standard, although potentially via e-mail, instant messages or any other message or output format

 

Oh how things have changed and will continue to change. Being prepared and embracing change in a positive and planned manner will deliver the results you need and provide a way to meet the expectations of your stakeholders whether internal users or external clients.

 

What say you? Are you using or considering the use of an Enterprise 2.0 technologies? Do you have a story to tell? I want to hear from you and learn what you and your organization are doing.

 

Join us for the BPM Certificate course in:

London 01/26/10 - 01/29/10

New York 02/02/10 - 02/05/10

San Francisco 05/25/10 - 05/28/10

 

Join us for the ECM Certificate course in:

Silver Spring 01/19/10 - 01/22/10

Chicago 01/26/10 - 01/29/10

Phoenix 02/09/10 - 02/12/10

Utrecht 02/09/10 - 02/12/10

London 02/23/10 - 02/26/10

Tampa 02/23/10 - 02/26/10

Toronto 03/23/10 - 03/26/10

Kirkland 04/13/10 - 04/16/10

Dallas 04/27/10 - 04/30/10

San Diego 05/04/10 - 05/07/10

Denver 05/18/10 - 05/21/10

Calgary 05/25/10 - 05/28/10

London 06/01/10 - 06/04/10

Silver Spring 06/08/10 - 06/11/10

Houston 06/15/10 - 06/18/10

 

We look forward to seeing you there.

Bob Larrivee – AIIM blarrivee@aiim.org

 

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.

 

SaaS ECM: Is it right for you?

Software as a Service (SaaS), while it is rapidly gaining attention and traction is not a new concept. In fact in the late 1960’s to early 1970’s, my father worked for the Control Data Corporation managing timeshare leasing on a mainframe system. Universities, government agencies and corporations would lease time and application use. The difference today is how it is of course the advances made in technology at all levels like that of the internet and application interfaces. SaaS allows businesses to leverage the latest technologies through simple and easy to deployment since it is web based, and provides lower operating costs and lower IT or maintenance costs since it is the service provider who manages the administration and updates for the application.

 

While this sounds like a great benefit, there are some other aspects that need to be discussed. In some organizations, the need to integrate with other applications may be a consideration leading to a discussion on whether or not it is possible and how much effort and cost will be associated to meet the requirement. In addition, there may be a need to co-develop a plan with the provider on how to manage future upgrades so as not to negatively impact business operations. Physical location of information storage may also be of concern. As an example, government agencies may not be allowed to leverage SaaS applications if their information will be stored outside of the United States or in the insurance sector, an insurance agent may be bound by contract to their underwriter to maintain client information within the confines if their premises or face the possibility they are in breach of contract and subject to fines and loss of rights.

 

In my view, SaaS is a solid model and one I favour for many situations, especially in the Small to Mid sized and departmental business segments. Business application providers like Salesforce.com, Ultimate Software Group, Authoria, and many others have proven this to be a strong model that is very scalable. In ECM, while the SaaS vendor options are still slim, we are now seeing more activity and growth with providers like SpringCM, Xythos, LightSpeedECM, Hyland Software and even EMC to name a few. This does not mean the industry is going completely SaaS but is does mean there are expanded options available and to this end you need to assess the true needs and requirements of your ECM environment before making the decision.

 

As with any decision you make in addressing information management, take the appropriate steps to determine what is right for you. Conduct a proper business assessment to identify and document your true business requirements and a technology assessment to identify not only your functional requirements but any technology available and the gap in technology to accomplish your goals. Only then will you know if a SaaS ECM solution is right for you.

 

What say you? Are you using or considering the use of a SaaS ECM solution? Do you have a story to tell? I want to hear from you and learn what you and your organization are doing.

 

Join us for the BPM Certificate course in:

London 01/26/10 - 01/29/10

New York 02/02/10 - 02/05/10

San Francisco 05/25/10 - 05/28/10

 

Join us for the ECM Certificate course in:

Silver Spring 01/19/10 - 01/22/10

Chicago 01/26/10 - 01/29/10

Phoenix 02/09/10 - 02/12/10

Utrecht 02/09/10 - 02/12/10

London 02/23/10 - 02/26/10

Tampa 02/23/10 - 02/26/10

Toronto 03/23/10 - 03/26/10

Kirkland 04/13/10 - 04/16/10

Dallas 04/27/10 - 04/30/10

San Diego 05/04/10 - 05/07/10

Denver 05/18/10 - 05/21/10

Calgary 05/25/10 - 05/28/10

London 06/01/10 - 06/04/10

Silver Spring 06/08/10 - 06/11/10

Houston 06/15/10 - 06/18/10

 

We look forward to seeing you there.

Bob Larrivee – AIIM blarrivee@aiim.org

 

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.

Redaction: Be careful how you use it!

This week we are seeing all kinds of coverage in the news about the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and how their screening manual was mistakenly published on a website in Adobe PDF format with redacted areas. The twist is that the redacted areas were able to be removed and the information hidden, revealed. So the question regarding information security in this case goes beyond that of how or who placed it on the internet site into the realm of proper redaction use.

 

According to a CBS report titled “Unredacted TSA Manual Leaked Online”; select areas of the document were redacted, or hidden, with the use of black boxes to hide those areas of information. While this is a standard practice, it is the proper use that is in question. Simply drawing a black box over the area does not constitute redaction. In the case of an Adobe PDF file, Adobe provides several options to properly redact information. (Information of this type is also available for Microsoft Word documents.) One method is to use third-party software that provides redaction capabilities along with redactions reports and metadata removal. Another option that I will describe simply here creates a series of flat files, removing the text search capability and metadata. While this is a distilled version of the process, these steps outline how it would be done.

· Draw the black boxes over those areas in the PDF requiring redaction

· Save the file as a flat file in Tagged Image File Format (TIFF) making each redacted page an individual image file

· Reassemble the PDF document using the TIFF files as part of the document

 

In my view, redaction has and will continue to be a requirement not only in government but in the commercial segments as well to protect intellectual property as well as information considered to be sensitive or private. It is a practice that has been in place long before technology entered the information world and will remain here form many years to come. When using redaction, you must first make a decision how redaction will be managed whether through a third party application or techniques like the one I described earlier. The second element is to ensure that your employees are trained and well versed in the method you choose to prevent information leakage. Finally, you need to monitor your information practices for compliance and take corrective action if needed. Redaction is an essential part of information security. Including it as part of your information governance plan and incorporating best practices for redaction use helps you get tighter control over information leakage.

 

What say you? How is your organization addressing redaction use? Do you have a story to tell? I want to hear from you and learn what you and your organization are doing.

 

Join us for the BPM Certificate course in:

London 01/26/10 - 01/29/10

New York 02/02/10 - 02/05/10

San Francisco 05/25/10 - 05/28/10

 

Join us for the ECM Certificate course in:

Silver Spring 01/19/10 - 01/22/10

Chicago 01/26/10 - 01/29/10

Phoenix 02/09/10 - 02/12/10

Utrecht 02/09/10 - 02/12/10

London 02/23/10 - 02/26/10

Tampa 02/23/10 - 02/26/10

Toronto 03/23/10 - 03/26/10

Kirkland 04/13/10 - 04/16/10

Dallas 04/27/10 - 04/30/10

San Diego 05/04/10 - 05/07/10

Denver 05/18/10 - 05/21/10

Calgary 05/25/10 - 05/28/10

London 06/01/10 - 06/04/10

Silver Spring 06/08/10 - 06/11/10

Houston 06/15/10 - 06/18/10

 

We look forward to seeing you there.

Bob Larrivee – AIIM  blarrivee@aiim.org

 

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.

 

How do you define "Green"?

Today we hear a lot about being green or going green in relation to being ecologically responsible. The idea of reducing carbon emissions and our carbon footprint are important and worth supporting yet there are times it gets a bit confusing and also challenging when trying to find a balance. As an example, in a recent news story I viewed while in San Diego, cited that while the concept of using the desert to establish a solar field as a solar power generation plant is favorable, there is opposition due to the disruption and impact it will have on wildlife.

 

As you can see, this is the balance challenge we face. In order to go green, the solar fields will use space that is home to various wildlife; some of which are rare and typically found only in this region. In other cases, migratory impact would be one of the side effects for other species presenting additional challenges. While it is a concern, these are also obstacles that have been faced before in water power and the need to create ladders for salmon to run up river around hydroelectric plants.

 

While all of this is good and discussions take place, there are additional green initiatives we can put in place and implement every day to help the regain ecological balance. While doing some research recently, I ran across the following quote: “If the U.S. cut its office paper use by roughly 10 percent, or 540,000 tons, greenhouse gas emissions would fall by 1.6 million tons — equivalent to taking 280,000 cars off the road for a year.” [Source: Susan Kinsella, Gerard Gleason, Victoria Mills, Nicole Rycroft, Jim Ford, Kelly Sheehan and Joshua Martin. “The State of the Paper Industry.” The Green Press Initiative, 2007.] Imagine this for a moment. Reducing paper use by merely 10% will have this much of an impact. How much effort would it take to reduce paper use by 10 percent?

 

In my view, being green means many things to many people. To begin, one must put their definition into the right context and perspective. We can all support green initiatives in our daily lives. All we have to do is pick a starting point. Here are a few Tips and Techniques for your organization to reduce paper use:

 

·     Use document scanners to convert paper documents to electronic format then shred them – if allowed by law and industry – and send the shredded paper for recycling

·     Do not print or copy any documents unless absolutely required. Send all documents via e-mail or electronic fax as the preferred method to your customers

·     If you do have to print, be sure to spell/grammar check before you print to eliminate reprinting

·     Use Web 2.0 technologies like wikis and blogs for internal communication and collaboration

·     Use single source repositories and shared digital workspaces to develop, manage and refine documents like contracts, marketing materials and any other type requiring review and refinement

·     Use web interfaces and forms for online applications and order placement

·     Sign up for e-bill delivery or online billing from your suppliers rather than paper statements, and pay your bills electronically

·     Map, design and manage all business processes electronically. You can begin by mapping the processes and assessing how they can be improved as they are, then address process automation using what you currently own and/or may purchase

 

What say you? How is your organization working to support green initiatives? Do you have a story to tell? I want to hear from you and learn what you and your organization are doing.

 

Join us for the BPM Certificate course in:

London 01/26/10 - 01/29/10

New York 02/02/10 - 02/05/10

San Francisco 05/25/10 - 05/28/10

 

Join us for the ECM Certificate course in:

Silver Spring 01/19/10 - 01/22/10

Chicago 01/26/10 - 01/29/10

Phoenix 02/09/10 - 02/12/10

Utrecht 02/09/10 - 02/12/10

London 02/23/10 - 02/26/10

Tampa 02/23/10 - 02/26/10

Toronto 03/23/10 - 03/26/10

Kirkland 04/13/10 - 04/16/10

Dallas 04/27/10 - 04/30/10

San Diego 05/04/10 - 05/07/10

Denver 05/18/10 - 05/21/10

Calgary 05/25/10 - 05/28/10

London 06/01/10 - 06/04/10

Silver Spring 06/08/10 - 06/11/10

Houston 06/15/10 - 06/18/10

 

We look forward to seeing you there.

Bob Larrivee – AIIM

blarrivee@aiim.org

 

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.

Change: Inevitable and ever challenging

Change is inevitable no matter what you do, where you go or how you perceive it. Change happens. The question is how ready you are to accept change, prepare for change, and to implement change. The difference in business is what the change driver might be moving you in new directions. Things like the economic climate, competition, and even legislation like the American Recovery and Revitalization Act of 2009 (ARRA) and the impact it has in the healthcare sector.

 

A part of ARRA focused on increased security of Patient Health Information (PHI) and the establishment of tighter standards expanding applicability beyond the definition of “Covered Entities” in the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPPA), to include all entities involved in the collection and management of PHI. As an example of this change, if a security breach occurs involving the PHI of more than 500 individuals, notification must be sent to the Director of Health and Human Services (HHS) and disclosed through prominent media sources within the region of the breach. While this may not seem significant to some, it can be a monumental task for others, especially if they are not prepared.

 

In my view, regardless of which sector your business operates, one way to prepare for change is to have your information house and organizational processes in order. The establishment of information management environments that combine policy, process, technology and training based on standards and enforced through periodic monitoring is a solid step toward managing change effectively. If you believe that change is inevitable, you have accepted that change will occur and you can make plans to prepare. Active participation with you local professional association and constant monitoring of industry and regulatory changes will keep you well informed as to potential future changes. The most difficult is to implement. In this realm, you need a strong communications and change management program that refocuses the organization and addresses transitional need in relation to your efforts.

 

 In the example I provided on ARRA, you would need to address information security of all patient information which not only includes the medical portion but also the business related information. You would need to establish the ability to monitor the environment and assess if and when patient information is accessed by unauthorized personnel and you would need to design a notification process that complies with the notification requirements. Note that I said design a process. As most processes have been established serendipitously through need, process should be implemented by design with a focused outcome and appropriate steps to achieve it.

 

I know that this is a simplified, 30,000 foot view and that reality is much more difficult but the fact remains that change is inevitable and will impact us. The question of how well we adapt is in the acceptance and approach we take to prepare.

 

What say you? How are you addressing change? Do you have a story to tell? I want to hear from you and learn what you and your organization are doing.

 

Join us for the BPM Certificate course in:

London 01/26/10 - 01/29/10

New York 02/02/10 - 02/05/10

San Francisco 05/25/10 - 05/28/10

 

Join us for the ECM Certificate course in:

Silver Spring 01/19/10 - 01/22/10

Chicago 01/26/10 - 01/29/10

Phoenix 02/09/10 - 02/12/10

Utrecht 02/09/10 - 02/12/10

London 02/23/10 - 02/26/10

Tampa 02/23/10 - 02/26/10

Toronto 03/23/10 - 03/26/10

Kirkland 04/13/10 - 04/16/10

Dallas 04/27/10 - 04/30/10

San Diego 05/04/10 - 05/07/10

Denver 05/18/10 - 05/21/10

Calgary 05/25/10 - 05/28/10

London 06/01/10 - 06/04/10

Silver Spring 06/08/10 - 06/11/10

Houston 06/15/10 - 06/18/10

 

We look forward to seeing you there.

Bob Larrivee – AIIM

blarrivee@aiim.org

 

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.

What's in your governance document?

Of course the first question should be do you have a governance document and if so, what is in it? Over the years I have been asked why it is important to have a governance document in relation to information management. The answer is simple, to ensure everyone is aware of the need and that internal practices are consistent. We, as a member of a business organization, are responsible to maintain corporate information properly and an official governance document will provide the guidance needed to execute this properly. For example, it helps to set boundaries around security, content types, and the appropriate tools to use.

 

In my view, your governance document should be simple to understand and provide guidance as an enabler to meeting regulatory compliance. To this end, it should include a mission or vision statement as to what governance will accomplish for the organization and how an ECM environment will support it in very specific terms. The document itself should include but not be limited to sections on:

· Statement of Purpose

· Enterprise-wide Governance

· Supported Formats and Tools

· Taxonomy and Metadata Overview

· Localised governance

· The role of information and content management in support of governance

· Directory of Resources

· Employee Acknowledgement

 

Governance is a vital to maintaining and securing an organizations information assets and corporate memory yet many in the user community would be hard pressed to identify it exists of how it relates to them. As information and content stewards, it is our responsibility to include governance as a key element in our projects and practices. Do you have a governance document? What’s in you governance document?

 

What say you? How are you addressing governance? Do you have a story to tell? I want to hear from you and learn what you and your organization are doing.

 

Join us for the ECM Certificate course in:

King of Prussia 12/08/09 - 12/11/09

Utrecht 12/08/09 - 12/11/09

Silver Spring 01/19/10 - 01/22/10

Chicago 01/26/10 - 01/29/10

Phoenix 02/09/10 - 02/12/10

Utrecht 02/09/10 - 02/12/10

London 02/23/10 - 02/26/10

Tampa 02/23/10 - 02/26/10

Toronto 03/23/10 - 03/26/10

Kirkland 04/13/10 - 04/16/10

Dallas 04/27/10 - 04/30/10

San Diego 05/04/10 - 05/07/10

Denver 05/18/10 - 05/21/10

Calgary 05/25/10 - 05/28/10

London 06/01/10 - 06/04/10

Silver Spring 06/08/10 - 06/11/10

Houston 06/15/10 - 06/18/10

 

We look forward to seeing you there.

Bob Larrivee – AIIM

blarrivee@aiim.org

 

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.

 

Can organizations really manage knowledge?

Think about this for a moment, can organizations manage knowledge and do they even know what that means? In discussions I have had with various members of the user community, they recognize the term Knowledge Management (KM), yet it seems there is still no clear and agreed upon definition from the masses as to what KM really is.

 

If you look up the word knowledge in Webster’s Dictionary, you will find a definition citing “a condition of knowing something with familiarity gained through experience or association”. In essence, it is the awareness of something, like information, existing. The term management, simply defined, means to manage or supervise in such a way as to achieve one’s goals or objectives. In the case of KM, this could mean supporting and managing an environment focused on knowledge sharing across an organization with the benefit being a more complete corporate memory, higher customer service levels, better decision making through enhanced Business Intelligence (BI) capabilities and succession preparedness to name a few. But how does an organization establish and maintain a solid KM environment?

 

In my view, KM is a valid goal and I have always been supportive of the concepts of KM. In order for it to take hold, there needs to be a strong commitment on the part of management and the organization to make knowledge sharing a standard practice. This commitment needs to be combined with sound information and content management strategies, governance, processes and technologies. In a well established and maintained information and content management environment, the platform for knowledge exchange and sharing, an organization leverages tools for collaboration and the corporate memory increases expanding the awareness that valuable information is available and exists within the corporate repositories. In many cases, additional metadata can be added to identify Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) enabling the knowledge seeker to obtain additional information that can be used to strengthen their efforts and enhance their results. While this is a high level perspective I think it is one that many organizations can latch on to and begin to understand that yes in fact we can facilitate efforts to capture and manage valuable information and content that supports knowledge exchange and sharing across the organization. In this sense, we are managing knowledge.

 

What say you? How are you managing your corporate knowledge? Do you have a story to tell? I want to hear from you and learn what you and your organization are doing.

 

Join us for the ECM Certificate course in:

King of Prussia 12/08/09 - 12/11/09

Utrecht 12/08/09 - 12/11/09

Silver Spring 01/19/10 - 01/22/10

Chicago 01/26/10 - 01/29/10

Phoenix 02/09/10 - 02/12/10

Utrecht 02/09/10 - 02/12/10

London 02/23/10 - 02/26/10

Tampa 02/23/10 - 02/26/10

Toronto 03/23/10 - 03/26/10

Kirkland 04/13/10 - 04/16/10

Dallas 04/27/10 - 04/30/10

San Diego 05/04/10 - 05/07/10

Denver 05/18/10 - 05/21/10

Calgary 05/25/10 - 05/28/10

London 06/01/10 - 06/04/10

Silver Spring 06/08/10 - 06/11/10

Houston 06/15/10 - 06/18/10

 

We look forward to seeing you there.

Bob Larrivee – AIIM

blarrivee@aiim.org

 

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.

 

An ever present need for information security

This week in the news, we have seen that emails from the Climate Research Unit at the University of East Anglia, one of the U.K.'s premier climate research institutes were accessed and made public. While this has brought about a massive amount of controversy over the research itself, it has also or should have heightened the awareness that information security is critical and that our vital information must be protected at all levels. It also brings about a renewed awareness that security is not just an IT function but the responsibility of all members of an organization.  

 

Based on what I have read, the emails in question were resident on an email server that was breached allowing unauthorized access. While there are many ways to address security, one method that comes to mind is the establishment of well defined governance over email use combined with an ECM (Enterprise Content Management) environment. In this scenario, if the policy dictates that content – emails – of value must be stored and maintained in the secured ECM repository, and the policy is enforced and adhered to, could this situation have been prevented?

 

In my view, while there is always a risk of intrusion, there are methods and tools that can be used to minimize the risk potential. Establishing an information governance framework that defines policy and procedures leveraging industry standards, supported by technology and user training that you monitor and refine over time is a great start to protecting your vital information. If you have this in place, congratulations and keep up the good work. If you have this in place but have not yet added email as part of your policy, now is a good time to start. If you do not have anything in place, do not wait another day to begin moving in this direction. Your business depends on it.

 

What say you? How are you managing your email? Do you have a story to tell? I want to hear from you and learn what you and your organization are doing.

 

Looking to increase your level of knowledge? Join us for the EMM Certificate course in:

• Chicago 03/16/10 - 03/19/10
• Silver Spring 05/04/10 - 05/07/10

 

Join us for the ECM Certificate course in:

King of Prussia 12/08/09 - 12/11/09

Utrecht 12/08/09 - 12/11/09

Silver Spring 01/19/10 - 01/22/10

Chicago 01/26/10 - 01/29/10

Phoenix 02/09/10 - 02/12/10

Utrecht 02/09/10 - 02/12/10

London 02/23/10 - 02/26/10

Tampa 02/23/10 - 02/26/10

Toronto 03/23/10 - 03/26/10

Kirkland 04/13/10 - 04/16/10

Dallas 04/27/10 - 04/30/10

San Diego 05/04/10 - 05/07/10

Denver 05/18/10 - 05/21/10

Calgary 05/25/10 - 05/28/10

London 06/01/10 - 06/04/10

Silver Spring 06/08/10 - 06/11/10

Houston 06/15/10 - 06/18/10

 

We look forward to seeing you there.

Bob Larrivee – AIIM

blarrivee@aiim.org

 

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.

Green supporting Green

I have always been of the belief that ours is a “Green” industry. Since the mid 1980’s we have promoted the use of technology for efficiency and cost reduction through the removal of paper. As we transitioned into our current state of Enterprise Content Management (ECM), we have seen a transition take place that has moved us to a state where electronically created information is now stored and managed in its original format enhanced by process automation using workflow and Business Process Management (BPM) as the transport and control mechanism. While we have not seen the significant growth of acceptance at the pace everyone wanted, we are seeing steady movement in this direction.

 

As an enhancement to the concept of being part of a Green industry, one vendor recently stood out in their approach to supporting the environment. The vendor, Kentico Software, launched a campaign within their client base to identify bugs in their product which they promised to fix within 7 days of receiving the report. The reward for reporting these imperfections was the planting of a tree in the name of the person who filed the reported bug. According to their recent update in a Press Release I received, Kentico Software had planted 60 trees to date (http://trees.kentico.com) as a result of this campaign and had corrected each of the reported bugs.  

 

In my view, this type of initiative speaks to the heart of our industry and demonstrates a commitment to eco-balance that we should all take note of. Businesses benefit in many ways from their transition away from paper-based systems to a world of electronically created and managed information. As they eliminate their paper files they can shred and recycle it for future use and now, through initiatives like the one we see with Kentico Software, there is potential to renew our natural resources and give back what was once taken.

 

What say you? How are you leveraging technology and supporting Green initiatives? Do you have a story to tell? I want to hear from you and learn what you and your organization are doing.

 

Looking to increase your level of knowledge? Join us for the ECM Certificate course in:

King of Prussia 12/08/09 - 12/11/09

Utrecht 12/08/09 - 12/11/09

Silver Spring 01/19/10 - 01/22/10

Chicago 01/26/10 - 01/29/10

Phoenix 02/09/10 - 02/12/10

Utrecht 02/09/10 - 02/12/10

London 02/23/10 - 02/26/10

Tampa 02/23/10 - 02/26/10

Toronto 03/23/10 - 03/26/10

Kirkland 04/13/10 - 04/16/10

Dallas 04/27/10 - 04/30/10

San Diego 05/04/10 - 05/07/10

Denver 05/18/10 - 05/21/10

Calgary 05/25/10 - 05/28/10

London 06/01/10 - 06/04/10

Silver Spring 06/08/10 - 06/11/10

Houston 06/15/10 - 06/18/10

 

We look forward to seeing you there.

Bob Larrivee – AIIM

blarrivee@aiim.org

 

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.