I recently conducted an end user survey that was different from many previous AIIM surveys; the sample was drawn from a group of executives completely unconnected with AIIM. The 400 executives were from companies with more than 10 employees and were responsible for “ordering, recommending, approving or initiating computer hardware or software decisions" and was conducted last week. The focus? Making the Case for Document Management in Challenging Times.
Over the next few weeks, I'll be reporting some of the major results from this survey, so watch this space. ( for a copy of the survey results).
The survey of 400+ IT decision makers and influencers found that 89% of respondents think effective management of electronic information is “very important” or “important” to the long-term success of their organizations. That's good.
The surprising part? The respondents claimed a surprising confidence in their information management systems, with 63% indicating they were “very confident” or “quote confident” that they could prove their electronic information is “accurate, accessible, and trustworthy.” Only 9% of those surveyed expressed a lack of confidence in their information management systems.
I think this is clearly a case of "not knowing what you don’t know. Survey after survey we have done with executives indicate that the MORE organizations know about the integrity of their information management, the LESS confident they are about their ability to meet basic tests of information integrity. These results clearly point to a lack of understanding about the actual state of information management readiness in most organizations.
Past surveys of information management readiness among those companies in the AIIM database that have thoroughly assessed their systems paint a far different picture. These companies place the same high importance on electronic information – in excess of 90%. But among the companies MOST experienced with the challenges of information management, 49% express a lack of confidence in their systems – a huge awareness gap from the 9% reported in the current survey of those totally unconnected with AIIM.
Organizations need to first reach a state of "conscious incompetence" relative to information integrity before they can begin to move down the path to becoming a world class organization. Clearly the content and records management industry has work to do in helping organizations overcome the state of denial that exists relative to their current systems.
- Here are some questions I think executives should ask themselves to determine whether their information management confidence is warranted...
- Is your organization able to handle the explosion of digital information, or does the continuing influx of information make your organization less and less effective?
- Can your employees find information when they need it? In the daily course of business, as well as when an emergency or more urgent event occurs?
- Can your employees collaborate on projects no matter where they are located in the world, to take advantage of trends towards work spread across the globe, and workers that are at home or on the road 90% of the time?
- Has your ability to document what your organization did, why you did it, who did it, and when they did it gotten better or worse in the past 5 years?
- Can your customers find information when they need it? Or are they abandoning your organisation for a competitor who outstrips your ability to provide the information they need?
Increasing awareness is one key reason why AIIM has introduced online and classroom training programs covering how to find, control, and optimize information assets. Close to 10,000 IT and Information Managers have attended the courses the last 3 years, and we see a growing need for training to improve collaboration, content management, and findability.
AIIM ESSENTIALS ONLINE COURSES:
- Evaluating SharePoint
- Imaging and Recognition
- Web Content Management (WCM)
- Digital Asset Management (DAM)
- eDiscovery
- PDF/A
The new AIIM Essentials programs have been designed for use as a series of standalone online courses that are focused on very specific topics applicable to any organization, and are a perfect complement to enhance the training our students have received from our current educational Certificate offerings;
AIIM CERTIFICATE PROGRAMS LEADING TO AN AIIM PRACTITIONER, SPECIALIST AND MASTER DESIGNATION:
- Enterprise Content Management (ECM) - Learn how to take control of your information assets
- Electronic Records Management (ERM) - Learn how to take control of your electronic records
- Business Process Management (BPM) - Learn how to improve your business processes
- Information Organization and Access (IOA) -Learn how to optimize findability and enterprise search
- Email Management (EMM) - Learn how to improve the control of corporate emails
- Enterprise 2.0 (E2.0) - Learn how to use Web 2.0 technologies to improve collaboration and innovation across the enterpris
For information on our training, .
For a copy of the survey results, .
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