> Although there may be Gartner analysts who do have a clue, there is risk 
> for
> all of us in the profession, whenever Gartner issues any paper,
> recommendation, etc. that trivializes RIM. Although we should not be
> surprised that they don't know, their word carries significant weight at 
> the
> executive level, and is something that we must address.

 CREAAAAAAAAAAAAK....Clunk.... Ka-ching!!! 
 Uh-oh... sounds like a major league size can of worms being opened here!!! 
=)
 I agree with much of what's been said about the report Bill originally 
cited and all others being written from veiled viewpoints and one-sided 
knowledge bases. We in the RIM Profession have been faced with this same 
problem for a LONG TIME now and although it's getting somewhat better, we 
have a long way to go. 
 But Doug exposed what seems to STILL be the biggest problem we face when he 
said that it's what those at the executive level read... and he's right on 
target, we need to find ways to address this. 
 I am constantly finding articles in the trade journals and other tech rags 
extolling the virtues of one system or another, or mistating the value of 
"archiving information" or installing "information lifecycle management 
solutions" to "achieve regulatory compliance", almost all of which are 
written by ill-informed vendors, IT hacks or others that have virtually no 
comprehension of the existence of established RIM processes, procedures 
and/or best practices. And while at times I feel I may be tilting at 
windmills, I send comments to the editors, or the writers, or the companies 
who generate the press releases to tell them that they either mistated or 
misunderstood the concept when they prepared the article, that the 
information is presented from an uninformed viewpoint and that they have (in 
most cases) failed completely to take into account the existence of RIM. And 
I know a few others in our profession do the same, but we either need MORE 
of us to do this, or we need a BETTER WAY to get our message out.
 What we REALLY need is a voice that can get to be as loud as the Gartners 
or Forresters or Forbes and that can be heard by the same audiences as a 
counter point to these veiled sales pitches for products and tools being 
marketed as solutions to problems that haven't been properly analyzed. There 
are some VERY GOOD products on the market presently that go a long way 
towards assisting organizations gaining much better control of their 
information, but without the perspective of an RIM in the process, the 
products fall short of being a "solution". They are primarily tools or tool 
sets that a well seasoned RIM can utilize as part of an overall solution to 
meeting an organizations specific requirements to developing a complete 
Records and Information Management Program. And there are components of 
these programs that there ARE NO TOOLS for at this point yet, and without a 
full understanding of how RIM works, these pieces will be left behind... and 
in many cases can result in large gaps and potentially costly problems for 
organizations.
 So..what do we do about it?? Well, That my friends and fellow RIMs is the 
$64,000 question. What SHOULD we do about it? How do we form an "editorial 
board" that is willing to keep an eye out for these articles, reports, white 
papers, guides, etc. and evaluate the content and where there is 
misinformation, develop a response and then get the response to someone that 
is willing to print it? And I don't think the answer is to simply say what 
is WRONG with the piece, but to offer something that says what the piece was 
originally intending to say, or that points out the gaps in the knowledge 
presented.
 Any suggestions? Peter K and I tried doing this "though channels" for a 
six-month period with an association that said they were once interested in 
trying to do something about this. We found articles, ands as I'm doing now, 
wrote rebuttal pieces and forwarded them on thinking that if a NAMED 
ORGANIZATION was willing to present the responses, maybe someone would 
listen more than they were willing to listen to individuals... but nothing 
ever happened. Now, it's just a few of us who get MAD AS HELL at reading all 
of this drivel that take up the charge to respond... so, what DO WE DO about 
it???
 Larry

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