Join Us at the ITO 2.0 High Tech Job Fair!

Date: January 24, 2013
Time: 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM
Location: Nepean Sportsplex, Booth #18

Come and meet us at the ITO 2.0 High Tech Job Fair. We invite you to start a conversation with one our Human Resources Professionals, Consulting Sales Managers or Practice Leads.

As a leading provider of Information Management and Information Technology Services based in the National Capital Region, we’re always looking to expand our network of skilled IT professionals. We’re eager to share our values and approach to client engagements that foster professional and personal growth.

Our Mission is to exceed the expectations of our Clients and Consultants. Please join us at the ITO 2.0 High Tech Job Fair to find out how we can exceed your expectations.

For more information on this event, visit the ITO 2.0 site at:  http://www.itoinsight.com/

 

Read more

Ensuring Successful Electronic Records Implementation

Consider the following facts.  According to an AIIM survey[1] only 16% of organizations surveyed have implemented an enterprise-wide electronic records management strategy.  9% of respondents indicated that they have implemented electronic records management system across the whole organization. 

 

At the same time the volume, velocity and variety of information continue to accelerate exponentially.  A recent report by IDC[2]  found that in 2009 the total volume of digital information was 800 exabytes and is projected to grow at an annual rate of 40%.  More than 80% of incremental investment in storage capacity is required to store duplicate data due to ineffective record retention and disposition practices.  

 

Knowledge workers are expected to spend 30 to 40 percent of their time managing documents up from 20% in 1997.  Audit and legal costs continue to increase.  It is estimated that on average the cost of culling, de duping and processing responsive documents to e-discovery requests is $18,000 per gigabyte of information reviewed.  It is further estimated that labour costs for finding a misfiled document is $120. 

 

Today’s digital economy is estimated to be $24 trillion, representing approximately 14% of all goods and services flowing through the global economy. Information has become the currency of exchange.  In order to harness its strategic value it must be effectively managed.  Yet investment in records management remains low on corporate priorities.  40% of respondents to the AIIM survey indicated that the main reason for ineffective record keeping best practices is due to lack of top level executive commitment. 

 

Implementation of effective recordkeeping best practices must be an imperative given the opportunity costs and compliance risks. What ought to be the common characteristics of an effective records management implementation strategy?  What are the factors to defensible disposition? What should be the measurable performance indicators for a successful records management implementation?  These are questions often asked, yet the answers remain elusive.  Surprisingly, there are some rather critical considerations that apply to all EDRMS projects, regardless of the nature of the organization – private or public institutions, or the size of the project. Recently Bruce Miller, Founder and President of www.rimtech.ca summarized six key strategies that should be considered for a successful records management implementation.  His article was published in Canadian Government Executive.  The link to the article can be found here. 
 

CORADIX will continue with its educational and thought leadership program in the area of information management best practices. Over the course of the past year we have delivered a number of complimentary seminars and workshops on subjects relating to information governance, data management, electronic records management, and in partnership with www.aiim.org  ECM certification programs.  These courses included ECM Practitioner Certification for Microsoft SharePoint and ECM Practitioner and Master Certification programs.  These workshops are delivered by AIIM certified trainers with in-depth expertise in ECM technologies and best practices with specific experience in Government of Canada ECM and records management projects.  The Microsoft SharePoint Practitioner training is delivered by David Wu with in-depth Microsoft SharePoint implementation experience within the Canadian Federal Government. The ECM Practitioner and Master training courses were delivered by Cheryl McKinnon the principal of www.candystrategies.com with particular focus on the ECM field and is a recognized subject matter expert in the areas of digital content creation, governance and content life cycle management best practices.

 

We will continue to build on these programs in the new year.  Our calendar of activities will include an innovative complimentary seminar –Information Management @ Work ™ that will focus on information governance, classification strategies, records management implementation best practices for Open Text Content Server, Microsoft SharePoint and hybrid implementations.  We are also planning to bring to our clients and consultant network the AIIM Certified Information Professional Certification program   (http://www.aiim.org/Training/Certification). We are planning to hold a one day workshop in Ottawa that will empower you to write and successfully earn the designation of Certified Information Professional (CIP). We will continue to deliver in partnership with www.rimtech.ca workshops on electronic record keeping best practices.

 

 Open Document

 

If you like this document, make sure to bookmark it. You can also post/embed it on any website, blog or profile. Simply click 'Share/Embed' once you've opened the document.

 

---

[1] AIIM: Records Management Strategies, 2011

[2] IDC: "The digital universe decade—Are you ready?," May 2010

Read more

Federated Records Management – is it a viable alternative to centralized records management?

The unabated proliferation of content and EDRMS applications that manage it poses a daunting challenge from a records management perspective. Should records be managed in one central environment or should they be federated across disparate content management repositories?  An AIIM research paper on the State of the ECM Industry found that on average 40% of organizations have three or more EDRMS systems deployed. 74% of organizations surveyed use SharePoint for collaboration.  While SharePoint continues to improve its records management functionality, 44%  of organizations are deploying it in conjunctions with more robust ECM applications with a proven heritage in records management capabilities that meet  rigorous RM standards such as ICA Module 2 and DoD5015.2.

 

There are a number of trade-offs to be considered in assessing the merits of centralized versus federated records management approach.  In a centralized or unified RM implementation there is “one system of record” where all records are classified, declared and where retention and disposition rules are managed.  In a federated RM implementation records are maintained in "their” native repositories, but manage them centrally. That way, the records do not need to be physically moved into a single location, yet a single set of retention rules can be applied. Records are ‘virtualized’ so that they all appear to be within the federated records management application, from which they can be searched, placed on hold, or acted on in other ways.”   A clear benefit of a federated records management approach is that it empowers organizations to preserve existing investments in EDRMS systems.

 

On the other hand the challenge posed by federated records management is harmonizing or orchestrating records management functions between disparate EDRMS repositories. Such coordination necessitates a high degree of process automation.  “Federated technology will use software algorithms to determine when a document becomes a record. The overall goal is to automate the human judgment and discipline that can make recordkeeping work properly”. Harmonization of meta-data and classification rules need to be effectively implemented in order to avoid inconsistent retention schedules which may result in loss of confidence in disposition processes.

 

The total cost of ownership associated with a federated records management approach may be prohibitive as well as too complex to maintain given the need for different EDRMS application software expertise. In such as case it may be prudent to opt for a unified records management approach.   In this scenario a single EDRMS repository manages documents, applies the retention and disposition schedules and processes.  There may be two possible approaches. One, to deploy a single EDRMS platform that manages end-to-end content life cycle processes including records.  The other option is a hybrid solution where there may be more than one EDRMS applications deployed however only one is designated as a formal system of record.  Documents deemed as records are “moved” to a centralized RIM repository. For example SharePoint may be used as a team collaboration platform where transitory documents are authored, versioned, shared and processed.   Once a document is deemed as a record it is profiled, declared and classified to the “records center” and from there moved to the RIM application where formal retention and disposition rules are applied and managed.

 

A hybrid records management implementation strategy is under consideration within the Government of Canada. While Open Text Content Server 2010 is the sanctioned EDRMS platform several departments have also deployed SharePoint as a collaboration platform. In order to preserve such investments while complying with the Government of Canada functional requirements for record keeping based on the ICA Module 2 standard departments are exploring the merits of a hybrid solution.

 

Bruce Miller of www.rimtech.ca has recently released a comprehensive study endorsed by Open Text which provides best practices associated with a hybrid RIM implementation based on OpenText’s solution called AGA, or Application Governance & Archiving.  AGA allows the two platforms to be integrated. The report may be accessed here.

Read more

Measuring the Performance of the Electronic Records Management Program

Too often organizations fail to establish tangible performance metrics to support electronic records management implementation initiatives.   A recent AIIM research found that such absence of metrics result in a lack of top down executive commitment to approve funding for electronic records management projects.[1]  The same research found that rapidly escalating regulatory compliance and e-discovery costs notwithstanding only 9% of organizations surveyed have an enterprise-wide electronic records management strategy and systems in place.[2]  There may be a number of reasons for such a poor enterprise records management adoption trend. For one many organizations tend to have a disproportionate number of disparate document management repositories resulting in a fragmented departmental approach to records management. This may be further compounded by insufficient investments in an enterprise wide information management strategy that strives for a consistent and normalized meta-data model for all corporate information assets. There may be lack of clarity as to what dimensions of electronic records management implementations ought to be measured.  One may focus on efficiency metrics associated with how the electronic records management system performs in terms of declaration, classification rates, retrieval times and disposition. Or one may focus on the outcomes associated with electronic records implementation measured in terms of tangible ROI such as lower physical storage space costs, reduced e-discovery costs or intangible measures such as improved constituency services. However organizational alignment and executive support are imperative determinants to the success of an effective electronic records management program. As one noted authority observed “Many EDRMS projects are “led from the middle”, making them highly susceptible to failure. Without senior management endorsement, the prioritisation of the project and provision of resources required over the typical 12 to 30 month timespan – both of which are prerequisites to success – have a high probability of being withdrawn. Senior managers generally support the idea of good recordkeeping and compliance, but do not know what is involved and do not understand the productivity that is unleashed by a successful project. At the other end of the spectrum, users tend to see an EDRMS project as just another compliance driven, administrative burden with little personal benefit. Getting engagement up and down the hierarchy is therefore fundamental to the success of an EDRMS implementation.”

 

Recently Bruce Miller of www.rimtech.ca has provided very useful guidance relating to successful electronic records management implementation best practices.  The link to the article is here and it will also appear in Canadian Government Executive. 

---

[1] Records Management Strategies, AIIM 2011: “A lack of commitment at the highest levels is the most likely reason that organizations have no records management system, either by default, or by not seeing sufficient need to invest the money.”

[2] Records Management Strategies, AIIM 2011: “A lack of commitment at the highest levels is the most likely reason that organizations have no records management system, either by default, or by not seeing sufficient need to invest the money.”

Read more

Strategic Analytics: The Final Frontier for “Enterprise” Data

Blog Author: Rod MacPherson

Sorry for the bad pun. I have been blogging recently about the incredible achievements of NASA nailing the landing of the latest Mars Rover- Curiosity. After a journey of 350,000,000 miles, it landed within 1.5 miles of its target. The jubilation in mission control was unconfined, as the team of mission monitors and engineers openly celebrated the successful milestone in the life of Curiosity- which is expected to relay a constant stream of data about the sustainability of life on the red planet back to earth over its anticipated 2 year lifetime. (although who knows- Voyager 1 is STILL relaying data- a journey that takes 17 hours, traveling at the speed of light from the extreme edges of our galaxy) If you want see where Voyager is, click here. When I last checked, it was 18 billion kilometers from earth. I digress.

 

If we think about that critical moment in mission control- when NASA personnel learned of the successful touchdown, a mere 15 minutes after the event- you realize that they have mastered the art of analytics. Not just about what has happened- but what was going to be happening (given the lag- and the need to adjust- they needed predicative indicators to make adjustments). They knew what they needed to know, and when they needed to know it. They had designed their data pipeline to provide the most critical information, in the most-timely fashion within practical limits of electro-magnetic physics as we understand it and our current understanding of quantum mechanics. If only we could do the same for our enterprise data.

 

The reality is - we can. Today’s leaders are often misled and discouraged by the current realities of information management and their cynicism about what information is practically available, when, and to what degree of reliability. This cynicism does not arise from the promise of what we as data management professionals are doing and promoting - they arise from the historical prejudice associated with IT and its excessive failure rate.

 

Strategic Analytics (and especially the predictive ones) that help decision-makers understand where the organization is going, not just where it has been, offers the greatest potential for organizations seeking to lever the enterprise data and big data social analytics in the most effective manner possible. Wayne Gretzky, perhaps the greatest hockey player of all time said it best perhaps. "I don't skate to where the puck is, I skate to where it’s going".

 

For the data management professional, our ability to help the C-Level understand where the organization is going is probably the single biggest opportunity to prove and validate the value proposition of enhanced data management practices. For those of us designing and implementing strategic analytic solutions- we know that architected, reliable, qualified, relevant and timely data is the only way to do this.

Read more

Open Data is Driving Enhanced Data Management Practices in Government

Blog Author: Rod MacPherson

We recently hosted an Executive Breakfast Seminar on Open Data at the offices of CORADIX and were pleasantly surprised by the greater than expected turnout by senior government personnel wanting to learn more about the risk, challenges, opportunities and benefits of Canada's Open Government Action Plan.  (see data.gc.ca)

Like many other jurisdictions, including 30 countries, and hundreds of municipal and provincial level government organizations, Canada followed the lead of the United States, who launched its' open data portal in 2009. (see data.gov)  Starting with the release of just a few hundred datasets, the Open Data movement in government entities around the world has led to the release of literally million's of data sets on all topics ranging from socio-economic data and geo-spatial datasets to extensive details on government operations.

The Canadian approach to Open Government relies on 3 pillars. Open Data, Open Information and Open Dialog. Open Data is about offering government data in a more useful format to enable citizens, the private sector and non-government organizations to leverage it in innovative and value-added ways.  Open Information  is about proactively releasing information, including on government activities, to Canadians on an ongoing basis. By proactively making government information available it will be easier to find and more accessible for Canadians. Open Dialogue, which is about giving Canadians a stronger say in government policies and priorities, and expanding engagement through Web 2.0 technologies. (my next blog will talk about why Canada differentiates between Open Information and Open Data)

For many in the room, the session was a sobering sort of wake-up call, as I pointed out to participants the obvious risks associated with releasing open data sets such as the liabilities and potential embarrassment associated with releasing erroneous data, to the not-so apparent risks such as foreign intelligence organizations combining disparate data sets in such a way as to expose national security vulnerabilities. (the example I used was a case where a vulnerability was exposed by comparing weather data with emergency response statistics and geo-spatial data - resulting in the ability to predict the impact of threatening weather on the security apparatus)  In addition to the direct risks from the data itself, we also discussed the potential political risks of government-wide releases of certain datasets, that because they lack a common architecture and meta-data standards. Exposing these practices (or lack thereof) could create additional workload and embarrassment for the stewards responsible for those datasets- and more significantly for the political apparatus behind it.

While there was much discussion around the downsides, there was also widespread acknowledgement of the benefits and opportunities, the most significant of which was enabling the constituent citizens and industry to generate economic advantage and innovation by leveraging the rich datasets now freely accessible.

For data management practitioners - the Open Data imperative provides the perfect business case- and timing to introduce enhanced data management practices in government sector organizations.  Data Management professionals need to be front and centre in these initiatives, putting in place to practices to ensure that Open Data sets are consistently architected, described and delivered with a defensible and competent approach to ensuring their quality. Data stewards need to be clearly identifiable as they will become the focal point for departments and agencies being faced with questions and challenges about their data. Finally, as always, none of these things are going to happen without an effective governance mechanism to ensure that these practices are being properly employed.

To us as data management professionals, we have always understood the compelling value proposition of improved data management practices for all organizations- however the lack of customer focus, and a profit imperative has made it difficult to convince government decision-makers to direct more investment in this area. The Open Data imperative breathes considerable new life into the strength of imperative; the time has come for us to "Carpe diem".

Read more

Integrating OpenText Content Server 2010 with SharePoint 2010

By: Bruce Miller, RIMtech Inc.
       www.rimtech.ca
      bruce.miller@rimtech.ca

As we all know, OpenText Content Server 2010 (CS 2010) is mandated as the EDRMS platform for electronic recordkeeping at the Government of Canada. Shared Services Canada (SSC) has developed a more or less standardized implementation of CS 2010, known as GCDocs, which Treasure Board hopes will be rolled out at some larger departments within the next year or so.

Many of these same large departments have also implemented SharePoint 2010 as a platform for collaboration and document production. However, SharePoint cannot be used to manage Government of Canada Records. SharePoint is non-compliant with GC recordkeeping requirements (see this report). CS 2010 is mandated for recordkeeping use, yet SharePoint is increasingly being deployed for collaboration. Departments with both platforms are going to need a way to somehow use CS 2010 to manage the records they produce and store in SharePoint.

Enter OpenText’s new solution called AGA, or Application Governance & Archiving. AGA allows the two platforms to be integrated such that records in SharePoint can be moved (archived) to CS 2010 to be managed as records in a fully compliant recordkeeping environment. AGA is a core component of OpenText`s Better Together strategy for integration with Microsoft products.

AGA is a sophisticated offering that allows a document to be moved from SharePoint to CS 2010 where it can be managed as a record. It provides for manual (what OpenText calls “Interactive”) and Process-driven (what OpenText calls “Automatic”) modes of operation. There are no less than 6 different ways and means of transferring documents to CS 2010, depending on how SharePoint is being used, and whether or not the document is a record.

The product is extremely thoroughly designed and well thought through. Keep in mind that a document is not just a document in a modern EDRMS platform such as SharePoint or CS 2010. A document has security permissions, metadata, and audit data associated with it. Each of the two platforms has a different format and protocol for each of these three critical document elements. Therefore it’s not as simple as it might sound to just “move” a document from one to the other. To their credit, OpenText has taken all of these compatibility differences into account. This can make the integration of the two rather complex at times, due to the platform differences that must be accounted for, which leads to a rather dizzying number of integration permutations that must be handled.

The bottom line is that the tool is sufficiently comprehensive to get the job done. Thanks to AGA there is a way that a department’s SharePoint records can be managed via CS 2010. The job of the Records Manager just got a little more complex and a little trickier for sure, but welcome to the modern world of EDRMS!

Bruce Miller

Read more