> With SOX, increased litigation, and other assorted events, I expect to see
> more companies jump onto the bandwagon, claiming to be records management
> experts and wanting to sell their services. My company has been contacted
> by two or three of these outfits over the past few months.
> 
> What's worse is all of them identifying their products/tools as 
"solutions"... nothing I hate more than an integrator or systems vendor 
touting their product as a general solution when they don't have a clue what 
your specific regulatory or business environment is. The larger problem is 
they're almost all taking out full page ads and issuing Press Releases on 
their products that get into the publications the management of many 
organizations read... then they come down the hall and say "We need to get 
this for our XYZ problem" and it's on us to explain why it REALLY isn't a 
"solution".

 What interesting is that when you start asking serious questions, you
> quickly realize that they either 1) don't have a clue about RM or 2) are
> attempting to sell other services under the guise of records management. 
> It
> is amazing the amount of squirming that can go on. 
> 
> Well, fortunately, they don't usually get much "face time" with most 
management directly without someone "in the know" present that can drop some 
well placed bombs to trip them up, but believe me, when the DO... the RIM 
Professional ends up wasting a LOT OF TIME explaining that the presentation 
didn't take into account essentially anything that you REALLY do, didn't 
address your operating environment, won't seamlessly interface with your 
applications, and essentially solves NOTHING.

 One vendor in particular
> I spoke with (I won't mention any names to protect the innocent or guilty)
> knows as much about records management as my wife's two miniature
> schnauzers.
> 
> AH, YES... but they DID sleep at a Holiday Inn Express last night, and I 
BET your wife's two minature schnauzers, as well informed as they may be, 
can't claim THAT!!! =)

 Don't get me wrong; there are a number of excellent records management
> consultants in the profession, some of them are good friends of mine. 
> 
> Oh yeah, the "Some of my BEST FRIENDS are Consultants" line... =) Well, 
some of us USED TO BE Consultants, and we weren't even our OWN best 
friends!! But seriously folks =| , Bruce is right there are many highly 
skilled RIM Professionals that are Consultants available to assist companies 
when it comes to RIM issues... just be sure to ask the right questions to 
ensure they're experienced in your industry and regulatory environment, and 
make sure your project scope is clear before you engage their services. 

 But like any other business, there are always a few attempting 
> to make a quick buck because of the latest trend.
> 
> Gasp... you mean like copier companies who are offering their machines as 
a component of the "compliance solution" but fail to inform you that he new 
generation of copiers actually "image" whatever you place on the platen and 
then the image remains in the machine's memory and can be recalled until 
it's manually purged or the memory becomes full?? And this is a "feature" 
that you have to disable if you don't want it on the machine (and it also 
exists on most FAX machines now).

 Bottom line - do your research and don't be afraid to ask tough questions.
> 
> Bingo!

 My opinion and not that of my company...
> 
> Me too... just comin' from the RIMMAN. =)
 Larry

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