Thanks to everyone that posted a reply to the question below.  I was
vague on purpose, as I wanted open, honest opinions from a wide range of
perspectives.

Now... here's the full situation.  Our company is probably going to
undergo a re-org.  In a past re-org, it was automatically assumed that
the placement of our function (Document Control/Records Management)
would go under the IT organization simply because it contained the word
"information."  We have a wonderful IT group, and we team up with them
to develop functional specs and conduct tech evaluations for the
purchase of automated document/records systems, then jointly make the
final decision.  However, we are so far removed from them functionally
that sometimes we don't even speak the same language.  We eventually
ended up under our business operations directorate, where we have been
extremely successful due to our director's full support.  

Our function has oversight of documents and records, from cradle to
grave (and even beyond, via metadata), including the development and
implementation of policy and procedures.  While our IT group is
terrific, their objectives are very different from ours.  They focus on
investments in physical infrastructure, while we focus on intellectual
asset management combining the applications as tools with the behavior
and culture of the people using those tools to manage information.  Our
motto is "the right information in the right hands at the right time,"
our focus is on people, and our overall objective is to ensure that the
company's intellectual assets are protected as they should be for legal
purposes. To us, IT is only one of the many spokes in our function's
"impact wheel," for which we are the hub. 

The ListServ input has convinced me of two things:  1) our particular
document/records management function does not belong under IT, and 2) we
would be more compatible with our Legal Counsel function, since we have
the same overall objectives.  While making recommendations as to where I
feel we belong, I'm also going to try to convince senior management to
allow me to develop and implement true knowledge management (which is
the last step of my 10 plan that I haven't yet implemented), but who
knows where we will end up?  

Once again, thanks for all of the input. It was extremely valuable, and
helped me keep an open mind.

E. Laiche
DynMcDermott Petroleum Operations
Records/Document Control Manager






>
> Would anyone like to put their 2 cents in on the following topic....
> >
> > Why a document control/records management/knowledge management
> > function...
> >
> > *...SHOULD NOT be placed under the information technology group???
> >
> > *...SHOULD be placed under the information technology group???
>

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