Hi all, 

Quick note to clarify my email and respond to Peter's question. 

First, while I am a Director of ARMA International, my message was certainly
not on behalf of ARMA, the ARMA Board of Directors, my employer, or anyone
else. I don't have the authority to speak on behalf of anyone but Jesse
Wilkins, ARMA member since 2001, nor would I without making that explicitly
clear. 

Second, I forwarded the availability of the tool from what some see as a
competing organization to a list that is not an official vehicle of ARMA
International, as has been published about twice a year since I've been on
the list. While many members of this list are also ARMA members, many of
them are not. 

Third, I didn't and don't make any representations about the usefulness of
the tool - just that it is available. The sheer fact of its availability is
something that should be of interest to all RIM professionals, whether they
are members of ARMA, AIIM, RMS-GB, ARANZ, RMAA, or any other RIM-related
association. Whether it is a useful tool or not is up to the individual user
who chooses to review it. There are a lot of very good resources and tools
out there. Many of them have been developed by ARMA - its HQ staff, its
Board, its volunteers, and its members. But there are other sources of
information out there, and professionals review those tools with an eye
towards whether they are valuable or not, not which association's name is on
the cover.

As Peter noted, ARMA has a very useful RM competency assessment that took a
lot of time, energy, and hard work to develop. It's very detailed. It's very
useful. It's also geared to individuals, and it's free to ARMA members. It
can be found here: http://www.arma.org/competencies/index.cfm 

The other tool is geared much more towards organizations to do a very basic,
very high-level assessment of a RIM program. Now, ARMA offers one of these
as well, in cooperation with netDiligence. It's available at
http://www.arma.org/standards/eassessment.cfm. It's $395.00 for ARMA members
and $795 for non-members. I assume that it is more detailed than the other
tool for that price. 

Finally, it's true that I have been a member of both AIIM and ARMA since
2001. I served as a Director of AIIM International from 2004-2005 and have
served as a Director of ARMA International since 2007. More importantly,
though, I am a RIM professional and I believe that no one person, group,
organization, or association has a monopoly on the truth. I believe that
every resource has some value, regardless of its source, and that it is
incumbent on us as RIM professionals to look at resources with a critical
eye. 

So again, this note does not represent official policy, thinking, position,
or anything else on behalf of ARMA International, ARMA HQ, or the ARMA Board
of Directors. It's my thinking based on being a RIM professional. I do not
apologize for having posted the link any more than I would apologize for
posting a link to a useful resource from a vendor, an analyst firm, a
consulting firm, a partner association, or any other organization that "some
would see as a competing organization". But as I noted above and earlier,
nobody has all the answers. It's up to us to think critically and make our
own judgments. 

Very respectfully submitted to ALL the members of the list, 

Jesse Wilkins
Member ARMA International since 2001
Member AIIM International since 2001
Member RECMGMT-L since at least 2003
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Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/jessewilkins

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