The point should not be to try to 'bake' some false statistics to get
somebody else's attention.  I sense vendors here; and something 'smells'
about this. 

Best regards, Steve
Steven D. Whitaker, CRM
Records Systems Manager; City of Reno

>>> [log in to unmask] 5/17/2007 9:13 AM >>>
Greetings.

First of all let me say I agree that from a RM perspective, some of
the
questions could have been worded a bit differently.  As a Records
Manager, I found some of the responses difficult to choose from and
not
very reflective of what I would have preferred as appropriate answers.


However, I believe the survey is targeted at a wider audience than
just
RM.  It is also intending to obtain the perspective of IT.  When
looking
at the survey from that perspective, I see the questions and answers
as
being more relevant.  

Whether we like it or not, we have lots of organizations out there
that
do not have email policies, or policies for backups, instant messages
and any one of the dozen or so new toys I don't have the time or
energy
to use.  I understand that email is a medium and retention is based on
content.  But all of us hear and read something nearly everyday that
indicates that organizations, many with retention programs in place
for
years, are just now thinking about retention of electronic records.
Vendors are selling compliance vaults by the score. Many of members of
this list seem to have thrown up their hands at email and say that the
best you can hope for is that employees will throw it in a couple of
big
buckets.

I can probably find a couple of hundred examples from the last couple
of
years where members of this list have stated that they were trying to
get a handle on email or electronic records in their organization.  I
have spent much of the last several years teaching IT folks about
retention issues and content based retention.  I think more and more
are
"getting it" every year.  However, understanding the concepts and
putting them in place are two separate things.  Most organizations
don't
even have a RM function. Where will they go to learn about the
requirements.

Perhaps the problem is not with the survey, maybe it is with us.
Obviously we are not getting the message out effectively.  Frankly,
the
fact that ARMA and AIIM are teaming up for the survey makes me
appreciative that something is being done.  I applaud them for that. 
I
also think that from the joint perspective a whole bunch of the
questions regarding records probably make little sense to the IT
folks.


I think the survey is a good thing.  I believe that considerable
thought
was given to the questions and the possible answers.  As far as the
survey having an agenda...isn't that the point?

Bill R

Bill Roach,  CRM
Manager, Corporate Records
MoneyGram International
1550 Utica Ave. So.
Minneapolis, MN 55416
Direct: 952-591-3325
Fax: 952-591-3333

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