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J. Kevin Parker has a broad rangeof experience in enterprise information architecture. His combination of technological expertise, business acumen, and strategic leadership is devoted to helping clients solve their challenges. He has a number of designations from AIIM. He is an ECM and SharePoint Specialist and also a Certified Information Professional (CIP).

You can connect with Kevin at about.me/JKevinParker, on LinkedIn, and/or follow him on Twitter @jkevinparker, he shares excellent insights there.

I'm pleased to have Kevin as Member of the Week.

Duhon: What do you do and how did you get there?

Parker: I am Principal Consultant and Practice Lead for Information Management at T. White Parker, a strategy and management consulting firm in the Washington, D.C. area.  I began with this firm as a SharePoint Architect last year.

I have worked in nearly every aspect of IT: help desk, networking, Web application development, Web design, IT leadership, information architecture, project management, and enterprise content management. Most recently, I have been focused on Microsoft SharePoint as an enterprise platform.

I am a business problem solver. I see information management problems, and I help enterprises architect manageable solutions. My combination of skills and experience landed me this great position.

Duhon: What was your best day at work? Worst?

Parker: One of my best days was when I turned in a 62-page business case I had worked on for weeks. I had been tasked to write a business case for SharePoint 2010 for that company. I instead wrote the business case for Enterprise Information Architecture and Enterprise Content Management, with SharePoint 2010 as the proposed platform piece of the overall strategy. That business case created for me a new position at that company—Enterprise Content Manager—and a staff of developers, designers, and administrators that I got to handpick.

One of my worst days was when a server administrator hosed one of my development team’s production servers, which we then learned had failed every backup for the previous six months. I was indignant at the server team for reporting all that time it was backing up without bothering to check the logs for success. Lesson learned: you do not have a disaster recovery plan if you have not tested it successfully.

Duhon: What are you proudest of?

Parker: I am very proud to work for T. White Parker to grow their information management practice.  They are a great firm, and information architecture and management fit perfectly into their strengths in enterprise architecture consulting. We are a problem solving company.  We help clients do business better.

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

Parker: My top priority is to make T. White Parker the top choice in Washington, D.C. and surrounding areas for excellence in information management consulting.

As we grow toward that goal, our top information challenge is collaborating with multiple clients and our teams on their sites in ways that are consistent across their diverse information environments. But, we are making progress!

Duhon: You’ve recently become a Certified Information Professional; what’s your view of this new certification from AIIM?

Parker: The CIP is fantastic! Finally, there is a certification that demonstrates mastery of the wide range of information management topics. Businesses and government agencies are beginning to recognize the need to tame the information beast, and they are in need of staff and consultants who can assess their needs and architect comprehensive enterprise solutions. Certified Information Professionals have demonstrated the skills to be those problem solvers.

Additionally, I have certificates from AIIM in Enterprise Content Management and SharePoint.  Together, these certificates, the CIP, and my professional memberships with AIIM and the Information Architecture Institute demonstrate to my clients that I have the skills and the community resources to solve their information problems.

Duhon: Why do you consider yourself an Information Professional?

Parker: I am an Enterprise Information Architect. I am not a product vendor or evangelist. I help clients examine their information pain points, develop their information strategy, design their information architecture, and implement their information management program and solution. It is all about strategically supporting the business goals and operations of the client.

Duhon: What are your three favorite websites?

Parker: www.apple.com — This has been my favorite example of clean design and superb marketing for many years.

www.wikipedia.org — This is my favorite knowledge resource on most topics.

www.aiim.org — AIIM has become my top resource for expert knowledge and industry research on information management.

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

Parker: Besides the Bible, three of my all-time favorites are:

·         The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Dr. Stephen Covey.

·         The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey.

·         Alas, Babylon by Pat Frank.

I’m currently reading and rereading parts of The Art of Enterprise Information Architecture: A Systems-Based Approach for Unlocking Business Insight from IBM Press.

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

Parker: Three of my favorites are:

·         The Matrix Trilogy.

·         Braveheart.

·         Blazing Saddles.

The most recent movie I’ve seen in a theater is Star Wars: Episode I in 3D.

Duhon: What was your first concert—and what are the three greatest songs on your iPod?

Parker: My first concert was a gospel group called Acappella.

The three greatest songs on my iPhone are:

·         “Superman (It’s Not Easy)” by Five for Fighting.

·         “Won’t Get Fooled Again” by The Who.

·         “A Country Boy Can Survive” by Hank Williams, Jr.

Have a Member of the Week suggestion? Email Bryant Duhon with your suggestion and why. I look forward to hearing from you.