Recently I read a blog post that made a comment about the slow adoption of organizations to focus more on their information management (IM) strategy. Allthough the topic is getting more attention these days, can you really disagree that most mid- to c-levels are still unaware, or do not put the priority on implementation of their IM stragety? Why does adoption in general take so long?
The simple answer here is like most other things that have come with best practise over time. In the real world something has to go very wrong before (usually) it gets a lot better.
With numerous other priorities that an organization has to deal with, an IM strategy does not tend to make it on the priority list becuase: things are working, have been for quite some time, and are likely to continue working in the future. Therefore it is a cost, not an investment. And come to think of it, the IT department is already over budget as it is, right? Ouch. If there is something we do not like in the days of economic crisis – it is cost.
That is the wrong assumption a lot of people are making, unfortunately.
If you look at the amounts of information we are producing you do not need to be a rocket scientist to figure out it needs to be managed before the beast spins out of control. In a well known publication of the IDC: The Digital Universe – an estimate is given that our current information repositories will grow by a factor of 44 by 2020, while the IT population to manage those repositories will grow only with 1.4 percent.
My point? The information boom.
Like the post 2nd World War baby boom we are drawing closer to the point where, unless managed, information will loose its value. There will too much of it, things you are looking for hidden like a needle in a haystack. What good is it to keep something that you can not use, and can not proove you actually still have – in its original state? Depending on your industry, and even in which part of the world you operate, the boom could become a reality next year, in 5 years, or maybe it already hit you 10 years ago. One thing is for sure: if it did not happen, it will. So prepare.
Previously I made a reference to the IT department. Management depends on the tech savvy and their valuable skills and expertise to make sure things are rolling along smoothly on an operational level. But the funny thing is: compiling an IM strategy is not a task that should land at the desk of an IT manager.
This is exactly where AIIM hits it spot on with the recognition of the Certified Information Professional (CIP). A person that knows the bussiness and technical implications, and can map requirements to technical implementations. In essence these are the front runners that will be responsible for guiding organizations to safe harbour in the age of the information boom.
The information boom is not something happens overnight. Unlike »Little Boy« and »Fat Man«, this boom will tend to creep up slowly, but surely creating operational defects inside your organisation. I think most of us can identify with some of these:
· Customer service representatives not having the right information – Oops. Sorry M'am, let me check that while I put you on hold..
· Discovering certain mailboxes are not monitored, or not even archived
· Discovering your content is not compliant the day you enter a lawsuit
· Migrations: where all of a sudden did the invoices of last business year go?
· What? »Send by email« is enabled for all our sensitive content as well?
· Now why wasn't auditing enabled for this repository..
The list goes on and on of course. These are exactly the topics a CIP should be concerned with, using IT as the execution mechanism to implement the defined and agreed IM strategy. A strong synergy must exist between the CIP, IT manager and higher management in order for any IM strategy to succeed.
This makes the CIP the centralized role managing planning and execution. Not something to be taken lightly. Hopefully more organizations will start to realize this when they start to see the information boom happening around them, and which operational defects are already occuring at this very moment.
#CIP #Boom #strategy #information