SII: an open letter to ARMA members.

• Author: Long, Jim
• Position: Jim Long, outside Director on Board of Directors, discusses Strategic Information Institute

My name is Jim Long and I am one of the two outside Directors on ARMA International's Board of Directors. I have just commenced my second year on the ARMA Board and, as requested, I also serve as Chairman of the interim Board of Director's for the new Strategic Information Institute (SII).

I am writing this letter because so much has been said recently in a variety of forums regarding the SII and I thought you might appreciate hearing my perspective. First, perhaps a little on my background is appropriate. I have more than 30 years' experience in the IT industry and have been President/CEO of two companies, completed a successful IPO, as well as numerous mergers and acquisitions, and I have the scars to prove it. During these years, I had the pleasure to speak at ARMA's national conference and at numerous Chapter meetings.

Almost two years ago, an ARMA Board member contacted me to see if I was interested in being considered for one of ARMA's first outside Director positions. Initially, I was not because my duties as CEO in a post-acquisition phase were too demanding. But then, the Board member went on to explain the SII Initiative and what ARMA hoped to achieve through its implementation. Although ARMA had been working on the initiative for several months, much remained to be done including validating and refining the business plan and presenting it to the Board as a whole.

What truly amazed me was the vision and determination of ARMA to boldly propose a way to address a critical shortcoming within our industry. Here was a respected, established organization of records and information managers attempting to create a for-profit entity to provide a way to improve strategic information management. It really caught my attention because from all my consulting years, if there was anything keeping company CEOs or government agency heads awake at night, it was the fear that their information was not being managed or protected properly and therefore represented the organizations' "Achilles heel." Events since then have only proved this incredible vulnerability. I'm sure Arthur Andersen wishes it could revisit its implementation of its document shredding policy.

The more I listened, the more interested I was in trying to help ARMA move this exciting initiative down the road. It was visionary, bold, and something that would benefit society, ARMA, and its members. So I agreed to become a candidate and was subsequently named to the Board. Frankly, it...