Getting down to business.

• Position: IN FOCUS: A Message from the Editors - Editorial

In June, a U.K.-based IT services company, Atos Origin, released a survey showing that chief information officers (CIOs) in the United Kingdom feel out of the loop when it comes to their organizations' business strategies. According to the survey, which polled 125 CIOs and senior IT staff in U.K. organizations with more than 1,000 employees, 76 percent said they did not consider themselves strategic influencers.

Assuming that the survey results could be extended and that the majority of CIOs around the world have similar views of their strategic importance, how must records managers--whether in Manchester, Montreal, or Manhattan--feel about their place and role within their organizations?

It's an important question, given that in today's business environment, which is teeming with regulations, lawsuits, and new technologies, the most critical factor in any organization's success (or its failure) is how it manages its information. The thought that an organization's CIO and records manager, who are most directly responsible for managing, safeguarding, and retaining its valuable information assets, don't play a role in its business strategy is absurd.

That is why records and information management (RIM) professionals must be proactive in creating opportunities to contribute to their organizations' strategic planning initiatives. A critical first step is to work to raise the profile of the RIM program and increase the recognition of how good information management practices contribute to organizational success.

This issue of The Information Management Journal focuses on business-specific issues that RIM professionals should be aware of and may be able to leverage to raise their organizational profile.

For example, in "Does Your Program Need a Strategic Alignment?," Alan A. Andolsen, CMC, CRM, says compliance and litigation concerns are giving RIM professionals a prime opportunity to help evaluate and align key business processes to meet organizational goals.

Introducing the firm to new technologies and services can also help increase a professional's clout. "Blogs, Mashups, and Wikis--Oh, My!" from Bruce W. Dearstyne, Ph.D., provides an overview of...