The next frontier for RIM Pros.

• Author: McKinnon, Cheryl
• Position: Risk and insurance management

This article provides Highlights of the Forrester Research and ARMA International Records Management Online Survey, Q1 2017. It identifies as major Challenges:

1) the volume of digital information outside of records and information management control, including newer content sources;

2) aligning policies and priorities with IG stakeholders;

3) and attracting and helping millennials develop needed skills.

2017 marks the eighth year ARMA International and Forrester Research have surveyed records and information management (RIM) decision makers in an effort to track the key trends and challenges facing the profession. More than 200 respondents from around the world shared their perspectives in the survey, which ran in January 2017 as a follow-up to the mid-2015 survey. Here is a quick summary of the respondents' profile:

* North America once again dominates the survey responses, with U.S. participants at 73% and Canada at 24%.

* Government tops the list of vertical industries represented at 35%.

* Large enterprise--those with more than $1 billion in revenue or budget--is represented by 19% of respondents.

* 16.6% of RIM programs report to IT (down from 20% in 2015), 18.5% into legal, 12.2% into a corporate services group, 10.2% into compliance, 6.8% into lines of business, and 29.8% report to others.

The shift to IG may have plateaued

RIM professionals are instigating change in their organizations, but the pace of evolution is slowing. In 2015, Forrester posed for the first time the question: "I lave you restructured or re-organized your RIM and/or IT programs to support an information governance [IG| strategy," and 32% of respondents indicated they had. But in 2017, only 25% reported they had re-organized their programs. Twenty-eight percent of respondents expect to make this shift 2017-18 (down from 34% in 2015), but 39% expect no change in the foreseeable future.

Governance Structures Are in Flux

Governance structures for RIM programs also remain in flux. While 19% of survey respondents replied that they had "a steering committee of senior stakeholders" to guide decisions--down notably from 28% in 2015 25% reported no formal governance of their programs at all, similar to 24% in 2015. "Other" responses included 17% saying they had a center of excellence or dedicated program team--up from 11% in 2015--and 9% reported they had "multiple, coordinated cross-role committees." Eight percent of respondents said they rely on legal to make decisions...