Managing electronic records is an exciting adventure because the sky is the limit in terms of opportunities for automation and innovation. There are definite challenges that go along with the task because everyone considers themselves electronic records managers since they have electronic content that they manage, whether it is an iTunes playlist or file storage on their home computer/laptop. When dealing with electronic records there is often the rub of having to deal with software limitations and do you do things the tried and true method in a manner that the software has been proven to work or do you stretch the limits of its capabilities to get the highest return on investment for your IT investment. Thinking about some of these issues has made me realize that U2 has created the perfect soundtrack for today's electronic records manager.
Track 1: Desire
And the fever...getting higher
Desire, desire...burning, burning
She's the dollars
She's my protection
Time is money. The goal of electronic records management needs to go beyond simple filing and cataloging. One of our biggest protection in workplace security is process improvement. Records and information is an asset that companies need to leverage for competitive advantage and we need to make sure that records and information are being used in the most efficient way possible. Examples of how this can be done includes automating workflows so that processes have less manual dependencies to go from start to finish. Related to that is implementing digital signatures to reduce the lag time that is caused by waiting for a wet signature. An electronic records manager should regularly ask the question, what bottlenecks does my organization have and how can the flow of information be used to reduce wait times so that less time is wasted and more money is made. If a records manager does not desire automation and process improvement from records and information, than their desires are too weak.
Track 2: I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For
I believe in the kingdom come
Then all the colors will bleed into one
Bleed into one
Well yes I'm still running
Technology is rapidly changing and evolving and that means we should never stay content with the technology solutions that we have. In terms of OCR ability and metadata capture we should continually be asking more of our system's ability or the system will cease to evolve even though the technology is out there. I understand that most records managers might not be the most tech savvy people out there, but that should not stop us from asking the questions and having the conversations with our vendors so that we can push the envelope of automation and innovation.
The song says, "I'm still running," and we have to keep running, not just with ERM and ECM technology, but also with business technology. We need to make it our goal to keep learning and not be intimidated by big data, BYOD, cloud computing, web 2.0, etc. because these are technical areas which will affect records and information management, so we need to stay ahead of the curve. Our end users will never be in that position of finally finding what they are looking for, so we still haven't found what we are looking for in terms of having enough knowledge to handle every challenge.
To find what we are looking for we need to make collaboration a priority. Collaboration must be two fold. On one end of the spectrum we need to collaborate with other information governance works to find out how they are innovating with similar tools. On the other end of the spectrum, we should also be collaborating with those who have more technical skills than us and those on the business side using fringe technologies so we can know what lies ahead.
Track 3: All I Want Is You
All the promises we break
From the cradle to the grave
When all I want is you
Electronic records management initatives can often have implications for everyone across an organization. Electronic records are pervasive and changes to email management policy, network drive use, or other information management areas can be far reaching. When we do change management we must make our target area far reaching and not just to the champions. "All I want Is you" is about commitment and change management means getting people commited to our initatives and being committed to getting their buy-in. Our message of change management must be one where every one in our organization knows through communication from stakeholders, training and other means that all we want is them. Every individual in the organization should be a priority for change management, even if they are not a direct contact, because it is essential 100% of staff take ownership of change. To ensure that we have taken the steps we need to get commitment from end users in a change management initiative we need to make sure their "persona" is developed in our planning strategy. The Certified Information Professional study guide has this great quote on change management which proves that our best information governance policies are nothing without commitment from staff:
Governance is a culture of accountability to which employees at all levels -- senior executives, business unit managers, end users, and IT, records, and legal staff -- must be committed. Otherwise, the best technology and the most well-considered guidelines will mean little, and operational standardization and compliance both will go out the window.
If you were to create a soundtrack for information governance what songs would be on your playlist and why?
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