Blogs

Allen Lazzara submitted the winning entry (Records and Information Management Scorecard) for our Electronic Records Management template contest.

Allen is Senior Business Analyst/Consultant for Technology Consulting Services. He was kind enough to answer a few questions for us.

What do you do and how did you get there?

AL: Mainly I function as a senior business analyst and project/program manager typically for large-scale information management projects for global 2000 companies. My background is a bit unconventional, evolving from ten years of work in artificial intelligence.  Specifically, I worked in message processing, information retrieval, and knowledge representation. This technical knowledge allowed me to launch a successful career as a business management consultant in knowledge management, content and records management, and generalized information services.

What was your best day at work? Worst?

AL: I can’t point to one specific instance, but in general, I am happiest when I am working on a challenging problem or brainstorming a business solution for a new client.  My worst day, well, I have had a few of those, but one specific instance stands out.  Always, trying to do the best for my client, I asked a “process-oriented” question and I was severely reprimanded by my management (at that time) for insubordination and bringing forth non-relevant technical issues. Hm?

What are you proudest of?

AL: Delivering a comprehensive greenfield records and content management program for a major Fortune 500 company. I wrote a short article on this work entitled “Be  Ready for Tomorrow - Build Strategic Enterprise Infrastructure Services for Records and Information Management Today .” It was published inARMA’s Information Management Journal (September/October 2007).

What is your No. 1. goal today—and what is your greatest content-related challenge?

AL: My No. 1 goal is always to be as well educated as I can be on trends, technology, and business challenges.  My greatest content-related challenge – well, it evolved from the intersection of my work with Doug Engelbart’s pioneering work in “Augmented Intellect.” The challenge is how to build or structure an information system to act as an “informed colleague.”  How can we structure or build a personal computing platform that assists us in finding information directly relevant to our current thought process or task at hand?

What are your three favorite websites?

AL: I don’t have three favorite websites, but I do find myself spending a great of time on 1) http://www.cnn.com; 2) http://www.cmswire.com;  3) http://www.aiim.org/; and of course, 4) http:/www.barkingdogblues.com/

What are the three greatest books ever written—and what’s on your  nightstand today?

AL: I am really not qualified to point out the three greatest books of all time, so I won’t try. But on my nightstand, you will find The Filmmaker's Handbook: A Comprehensive Guide for the Digital Age, Steven Ascher, et al.

What are the three greatest movies of all time—and what’s the last one you’ve seen?

AL: Again I have to say that I am under qualified to gauge the three best movies of all time, but I do like The Wonder Boys, Apocalypse Now, Rope, and slew of corny comedies, like Midnight Run. Recently, I watched The Wonder Boys. It also has a great soundtrack.

What was your first concert—and what are the three greatest songs on your Ipod?

AL: My cousin is the lead guitarist for the Blue Oyster Cult, so my first concert was a BOC concert. My Ipod: 1) Mike Zito – Slow it Down; 2) Nouveaux Honkies – Your Twin; and 3) Kilborn Alley Blues Band -  I Like to Live the Love.

What led you to create the winning RIM template? And how have you used it to make your clients’ business run better?  

AL: The “Records and Information Management Scorecard”  I submitted to AIIM represents years of work in asking clients the right questions and developing solutions that address the key issues necessary to deliver business value.  Since we are often blinded by our perspective, ( for instance,  a technology or tool view, a legal view,  or a classical records management view), I found it important to attempt to identify the pertinent organizational, policy, process, architecture, technology, and operations issues. Since this framework is only 80% of the way there, I would challenge and hope that the AIIM community can continue to flesh out the elements that must be addressed for all of us to be successful.

With a comprehensive scorecard and checklist “ready at hand” we can assist our clients in formulating realistic business cases, getting the appropriate funding, and using this funding to deliver “best fit” solutions.