ECM:RIM—Programs that Matter. Programs that Last.

In a survey of more than 700 enterprise content management (ECM) system users by AIIM—The Enterprise Content Management Association, 89.7% agreed that "Compliance concerns related to managing electronic information are here to stay."¹

What does this mean for professionals who are striving to implement effective information management in their organizations? Mandates in this arena continue to develop. Senior executives need to demonstrate legislative and regulatory compliance, and will keep pushing their organizations for it. Experts in IT and legal departments will continue to be involved in information management initiatives. Whether or not those initiatives involve an ECM system, they need to incorporate industry best practices for search and retrieval and lifecycle management as reflected in an ideal records and information management (RIM) program.

Many of our clients enter into discussions with us by describing the complexity of information structures in their organization. We commonly hear that our clients struggle to keep track of their information. A single document will often exist simultaneously on laptops, desktops, thumb/USB drives, corporate shared drives, in multiple email folders and in document management systems. The fact that there are often multiple versions of a document living in multiple places can be overwhelming.

How will the implementation of an ECM system help solve these problems? The best way is to partner it with a robust RIM program. Companies that are identifying their business requirements and organizing their information into taxonomies and file plans are several steps ahead of their peers in preparation for ECM, regardless of where they are in their ECM purchase-decision cycle. Developing a robust RIM program and using it to drive your corporate information structures is a step toward best practice.

ECM as Information Management

ECM systems facilitate the effective management of information throughout its lifecycle—across multiple content storage locations, e.g. shared drives, document management systems, mail servers, etc. Management of information throughout its lifecycle—creation and collaboration, active, inactive, historical and ready for destruction—is the fundamental principle behind the disciplines of records and information management, knowledge management and content management.

There are some bonuses to effective ECM that go beyond compliance. Once you have your content under control, you can use it for purposes beyond the reasons for which it was created. Your marketing department can increase revenue by mining content to describe the complexity and value of your products and services, resulting in a more efficient sales cycle. Engineers can share design data and shorten the capital project lifecycle, saving money. Ultimately, an ECM system based on a quality RIM program may decrease operating expenses and defray the cost of ECM implementation through increased efficiency and streamlined workflow.

Combine RIM and ECM to Ensure Best Practice

Implement an ECM system in conjunction with a RIM program that is based on industry best practice, and you will lay the groundwork that is necessary for achieving legislative and regulatory compliance. Here's how to get started:

1. Assess the needs of your organization.

Identify and understand ECM/RIM business needs. These information needs and problems often include:

• Vast amounts of information housed in disparate locations;
• High-risk records not flagged for priority examination and management; and
• Lack of existing RIM policies and procedures.

Realistically assess the root causes and constraints that make solving these needs a challenge. Constraints often include:

• Lack of funds for immediate roll-out of an ECM system;
• Lack of resources to implement and enforce RIM policies and procedures—at the corporate level and at the department level; and
• Lack of professional guidance in the field of records and information management.

Evaluate the business risks to prioritize and time the project milestones. High-risk areas include:

• Areas with records that will disrupt business operations if mismanaged or misplaced;
• Areas with records that would result in excessive fines if the records could not be discovered; and
• Areas with business processes that carry high litigious risk.

2. Develop policies and procedures for managing information.

Develop policies and procedures with records custodians in mind. Policies and procedures should be easy to understand, and realistic for people to follow with a reasonable amount of effort. In many cases, people assigned the duties of controlling records for a certain department or physical area are already fulfilling other full-time job responsibilities.

The team leading the effort to develop RIM policies and procedures should have a mature understanding of the principles of records management. Now is the time to engage a professional, or a team of professionals, with RIM expertise. Employing professionals with experience in the roll-out of RIM and ECM programs amounts to on-board expertise and financial savings—costly lessons learned will have been learned in other environments and at a prior time.