With gas prices climbing higher and higher, and predictions saying that it will be $5 in the San Francisco Bay Area by this summer, I have become a strategic trip-taker. I do not drive unnecessarily, I plan my routes, I make sure I have enough gas and I travel directly to where I need to be without passing “GO.” I believe that my time and money are valuable resources. These resources are to be used wisely to achieve the maximum benefit. First of all, I really don’t like spending that much money on gas to get where I am going. It is not that I am cheap, but I really want value for my money. “I recently heard the statement I want a Bentley for a BMW price.” The man was trying to press upon me by what he said that he wanted high value for a good price. He was not asking me to be cheap, but give him value for his money.
Well, as information management professionals who are seeking or using electronic records solutions, this is how we should approach justifying, buying and implementing an electronic records solution. When the idea of an electronic records solution first surfaces in your company, somebody has to take the driver’s seat. It is the goal of the driver to determine where the company is going to end up with the new solution and what are the reasons for moving the company in this particular direction. Going for a drive, looking for a solution, without a purpose or business case can keep you driving in circles, and I, for one, don’t want to waste my time or gas driving in circles.
I for one use many of the information management tools to create, manage and/or share information with our company. It makes sense. We don’t want to be driving around trying to find the right resource, answer or tool to help one of our clients. Their time is important. When companies begin looking at technology to solve problems, they are about to embark on a long drive. These drives can last the as long as the company has the car. Once you select a tool, you have begun a long relationship with a vendor. So we start by asking what perfection looks like. Can the company tell us what problems or issues they are trying to solve? Technology cannot solve training problems. Technology may remove process problems, but then again it can add new problems if the flow of work through the solutions is not mapped out, and finally I need to know what they have today in terms of resources, technology, requirements and processes. What do you want to get accomplished, what resources you have and then what exactly will it cost you?
Then you can determine if the trip is worth the drive.
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