Information Management Blog

By Patrick Thatcher

Imagine you meet the Prime Minister in a lift and during idle conversation you are asked what you do for a living. You realise you only have about 10 seconds to explain as you exit the lift on the 15th floor…

With this scenario created I would like to place myself in this situation and attempt to answer the question. The very short answer I could offer the PM is that I work within Enterprise Content Management (ECM). However, I know this particular answer has often left very blank expressions on the faces of friends and family who have received this description. So I know I need to come up with something impressive, creative and definitive.

The ultimate authority for providing this definition is AIIM (Association for Information and Image Management) who are the leading international industry authority.

AIIM define Enterprise Content Management (ECM) as:

Enterprise Content Management (ECM) is the technologies used to capture, manage, store, preserve, and deliver content and documents related to organizational processes. ECM tools and strategies allow the management of an organization’s unstructured information, wherever that information exists.

Wikipedia shows us that even AIIM have changed their definition over time. In 2005 AIIM’s definition was:

Enterprise Content Management is the technologies used to Capture, Manage, Store, Preserve, and Deliver content and documents related to organizational processes.

This indicates that even the experts have grappled with this definition and it is likely that in time the ‘official’ definition will change again. That said the ‘official’ definition, although perfectly accurate, is long, cumbersome and littered with industry jargon. Thus I feel not the most appropriate definition to offer the PM.

The lift keeps moving and I need to come up with an answer, time is running out my floor is fast approaching…

“Well PM I work to ensure that all content created by an organisation is appropriately stored, managed, preserved where appropriate and made available when required. Now may I ask what exactly do you do for a living?”

By Patrick Thatcher

There is a widely accepted concept within information management; that being the main division for data is between structured and unstructured. Structured data being rows and columns of data within a database and unstructured being “the rest” of an organisation’s data. “The rest” being all documents including Office documents, PDF’s, emails and so on.

Traditionally and practically, organisations will have their structured data reasonably well managed (I guess that is why we call it structured data). However, the unstructured data is often wild and unruly. The most common method of taming the wild of the unstructured data is with one or a combination of Enterprise Content Management (ECM), Document Management (DM) and Records Management (RM).

All too often the chosen solution and the implementation journey is dramatically underestimated. The perception is simply to buy a product, install it and all will be well.

To quote a very old cliché; “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail”. This most certainly rings true for any project involving unstructured data. The most important work of an information management project must be done upfront, if possible prior to even purchasing a product. Should the product selection already been done; still more work is required prior to the solution roll out.

Some points may seem obvious, but please remember the following:

1. Ensure infrastructure is in place
2. Define all document / content types
3. Engage with all levels of the organisation
4. Pilot, prototype or model office is essential
5. Plan, plan, and plan

Where there is strong drive within organisations to manage unstructured data effectively. I would like to highlight that in order to reach the organised point there needs to be clear and concise structure surrounding the unstructured. Although unstructured data will never appear as rows and columns in a database; it should be approached with structure and order in mind.

By Patrick Thatcher

Social networking on-line has without doubt changed the way individuals, socialise, share information and even meet new people. Whilst all users have been merrily using this medium there has been a brewing undercurrent relating to who is responsible ocean of data. Who is ultimately responsible for the content that is generated every day?

A judge recently ruled on a liable case where an individual had created a false user profile on a popular networking site. The false profile defamed an ex-friend of the claimant. The judge ruled in favour of the claimant and the user responsible for creating the false profile was ordered to pay damages in excess of £20,000.

The defendant claimed that he had not created the profile, but admitted his PC had been used. The defendant claimed that friends had created the false profile during a party at his home. The judge ruled that the defendant was ultimately responsible for the PC which was used to create the profile; hence was liable in this case.

Although this should not spark a legal debate but rather remind us all of a few critical thoughts relating to our on-line presence:

1. Information is powerful
2. Use information responsibly
3. Individuals are responsible for content created
4. Ensure your electronic assets are secured appropriately

These basic ideas no doubt extend to all aspects of our electronic existence; be that socialising, blogging or working. Some basic rules and codes of conduct must be adhered to.

Let’s face it, we all need to be careful.

By Josef Elliott

There is a school of thought that all new “stuff” is invented in California and slowly migrates eastwards stopping only briefly on our shores on the way to mainland Europe, Asia and The Orient.  Let us for a moment consider the progress of e-Discovery and accept the fact that it is growing significantly in this country and is with us to stay.   Add to that the enormous costs involved -  Microsoft, it is claimed, spends $20m on e-Discovery per litigation (see article) – and it soon becomes obvious that all major organisations should be looking at ways of preparing themselves for this onerous task and working out how they can keep the costs down. 

Some of the most interesting thinking in the e-Discovery space is being done on the Electronic Discovery Reference Model (www.edrm.net).  To quote from the site:

“Launched in May 2005, the Electronic Discovery Reference Model (EDRM) Project was created to address the lack of standards and guidelines in the electronic discovery market - a problem identified in the 2003 and 2004 Socha-Gelbmann Electronic Discovery surveys as a major concern for vendors and consumers alike. The completed reference model provides a common, flexible and extensible framework for the development, selection, evaluation and use of electronic discovery products and services. The completed model was placed in the public domain in May 2006”

And the model looks like this: 

Now look at the first box – Information Management.  The great irony of this model is that it assumes that we are all managing our information before we embark on the e-Discovery exercise.  If this was the case, then our costs would be much lower.   E-Discovery costs are so high because most organisations do not have robust Information Management practices in place prior to a piece of litigation hitting.  Surely it’s better to spend more time managing information in order to save money identifying, preserving, collecting, processing, reviewing, analysing, producing and presenting?

Comments as always are welcomed.