Next best technology or next RIM headache?: how to evaluate new technologies for RIM impact.

• Author: Empel, Sofia
• Position: RIM FUNDAMENTALS - Records and information management

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What's the next best technology? More importantly, how should a records and information management (RIM) professional evaluate a new technology for RIM impact?

According to ISO 15489-1 Information and Documentation- Records Management- Part I: General, information professionals should decide how records are created and captured and what technologies to use for these processes.

In fact, to be at the highest level of maturity for the Generally Accepted Recordkeeping Principle [R] of Integrity, according to ARMA International's Information Governance Maturity Model, an organization must have "a formal, defined process for introducing new record-generating systems."

Reasons to Evaluate

Although new technologies support innovation and are introduced to improve efficiency, increase productivity, and reduce cost, they also carry RIM-related risks. But, these risks can be mitigated by conducting a comprehensive evaluation during the planning stages for new technology acquisition.

Because new technologies include software, such as information systems, and hardware, such as portable devices, the potential scope of new technologies that need to be evaluated for RIM impact may be very broad.

All new technologies should have standards-based RIM capabilities that are connected to broader organizational goals. Goals define activities. Activities define documents and data. Documents and data define technologies. And, technologies define recordkeeping. Good information governance demands that new technologies be evaluated for RIM impact, not only at a tactical level, but also at a strategic level.

Strategic Alignment

A systematic process of recommending only those new technologies that have a positive impact on recordkeeping is essential for good information governance. But, strategic technology alignment with RIM priorities is often difficult to achieve--for several reasons.

First, many RIM professionals do not see themselves as both information management and technology experts. Second, they do not always present a solid business case for information governance and financial accountability. Finally, they often fall short on forming aligned partnerships with senior-level decision makers who are responsible for evaluating new technologies.

RIM professionals who want executives to support the acquisition of records-generating systems that positively impact RIM need to promote strategic alignment. Building a digital landscape requires a strategic plan that guides an organization from where it is to where it would like to be, including not only long-and short-term goals for the organization's technologies, but also the steps for achieving them.

A strategically aligned action plan sets RIM goals for new technologies based on business and corporate objectives and then defines the strategies to support those goals.

Systems Strategy

A systems strategy for technology acquisitions presents a clear vision of how specific technologies fit into the wider organization. It uses a holistic approach to building a digital landscape by considering all of the organization's technologies and their relationships to one another.

A well-planned systems strategy considers which stakeholders are vested in a new technology's success and which business processes are affected by each technology. Typically, new technologies are placed into a "big picture" that focuses on the arrangement of and relationships among the parts (people, processes, and technologies) that connect them to the whole (organization).

Acquisition Strategy

Acquisition strategy fills gaps between an organization's current technology and its goals. Familiarity...