It was my pleasure to be invited to the Managing Electronic Records (MER) conference this year. Access Sciences was one of only 18 companies identified to exhibit. Our CEO, Janice Anderson, took the stage during a discussion panel and several of our clients presented information about their successful projects. In this blog I will offer some perspectives and observations on what some of the best minds in records and information management focused on.

From the start I was impressed with the number of people who showed up ready to talk openly about the challenges they faced in keeping the momentum of their programs going in tougher economic times. No, they weren’t polling vendors to see who could offer bigger discounts or the lowest price. Instead conference goers were looking for advice on steps they could take this year to get the best value for the effort, while positioning their programs for success as the economy recovers.

Many attendees realize that time is money, so they cut right to the chase and asked presenters and vendors alike pointed questions. The one I heard most often typically sounded like this: “I can’t afford an ERM application this year, so what can I do to strengthen the foundation of my current program now?” Even the software providers were recommending a focus on updating retention schedules, developing a taxonomy or classification scheme, building a metadata model, creating file plans, and updating policies to handle electronic records. Each of these items are critical to have in place before thinking about buying and implementing an electronic system.
I watched with a certain amount of pride as our clients and partners shared case studies. It struck me that there are many approaches to improving the management of information and records but no “silver bullet” is available yet, not even among companies in the same industry. Common threads did emerge including:

• The best programs started with a roadmap and a business case that clearly demonstrated why the journey was necessary. Working for years before seeing results is a risky strategy, especially when corporations are in the mood to halt expensive multi-year projects. To keep up the momentum, focus on taking small steps toward a larger goal so that your program can demonstrate both progress and begin delivering real business value every quarter. A series of successful small projects can go a long way toward building the confidence of senior management that this journey is worth the effort.

• Success of a program or project depends heavily on an honest assessment of that particular organization’s culture and business environment. The best teams spent time assessing cultural fit and designed a program that worked for their employees, not naively trying an approach that they heard their competition had tried.

• Technology certainly helps, but only when coupled with the right level of understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the software product. Successful teams looked for consultants with records and technology experience to help them bridge the gap between what the software could do and what the full range of business requirements were. When a gap existed, these consultants figured out how to fill it with processes, training or a third party product.

The final topic on many participants’ minds was how to prepare their organization for the challenge of electronic discovery. A magistrate shared his concern that lawyers face a much tougher road ahead in litigation. Gone are the old days when a lawyer could look at a relatively small amount of documents to prepare for a case. With the increasing use of email and the proliferation of electronic records the sheer volume of information that may need to be reviewed is not only staggering, but costly. Increasingly it is RIM professionals who are convincing their legal departments that they should consider a litigation readiness assessment conducted by a third party with information management, records and legal skills. Why? Because litigation readiness is often rooted in sound records management practices that will enable a company to confidently produce the required evidence to defend against a plaintiff’s accusations.

Conferences like MER and ARMA are invaluable events because they bring together such diverse perspectives on records and information management. For RIM professionals it is a wonderful experience that will give you ideas for your own program. For legal and IT professionals these venues offer a new perspective on the value of sound information management. Because of this high value, participants agree it is money and time well spent. See you at MER next year!