Congratulations Angie, for taking such proactive and  forward thinking 
actions.
 
More might consider doing so and I hope that ARMA Intl hears your  
suggestions.  I am not the intellectual many on this list are but change  should occur 
at least every 10 years in professions, industries and specific  fields. Your 
suggestions and observations are certainly warranted changes to the  
profession.  While I don;t have a CRM, I can do much and have done much of  what you are 
suggesteding and over the years have found that my versatile  
skillset/knowledge in many areas has opened doors when folks did not want to  talk records 
management or filing sytems.
 
Trudy M.  Phillips
File Management, LLC 
"Bringing Order Out of  Chaos"
8440 Lanewood Circle 
Leeds, AL 35094
Office:  205/699-8571   Fax: 205/699-3278 
_www.filemanagement.com_ (http://www.filemanagement.com/)  


In a message dated 2/18/2009 7:04:58 P.M. Central Standard Time,  
[log in to unmask] writes:

Time for  Records Managers to embrace their inner corporate governance
selves.   

In order to "get to the table" where the budget funds are,  records
managers need to come to grips with the fact that they will have  to
learn to manage IT groups, conduct risk management assessments and  cost
analysis, analyze/re-engineer processes (to be programmed by  the
computer software engineers), and just generally adapt to the needs  of
the corporation in additional to their current skill sets.  My  company
may not always think that my records management skills are as  important
as sales, but they have been shocked by how well I have been able  to
retool how they gather information and make that more efficient,  more
cost effective, and help them close a sale in less time by  collecting
only what is needed and spending less time in the back room  filing.  The
only way to get invited to the table is to add value to  the bottom line.

I expected our profession to eventually become  more automated, so I
pushed hard to figure out how to contribute to the  general revenue
generating strategy.  I learned audit skills sets and  the art of
measuring risks and studying projects for feasibility and return  on
investment, performing cost analysis, re-engineering business  processes,
and mapping out data everywhere it flows through an IT system,  file
cabinet, cardboard box, or other media.  I just now completed  my
Certified Enterprise IT Governance Professional qualification, but  when
paired up with a CRM and a Certified Information Systems Auditor, I am  a
more complete package when it comes to risk management and  information
governance.  My CRM is even more valuable than ever now  because I can
bring that element to the IT table and continue to make a  unique
contribution.

Today, I am confident that I am relevant,  knowledgeable, and continuing
to make a significant contribution to my  company's bottom line.  I want
to be making the decisions about  software choices instead of "making do"
with something that someone else  wants.  I am well taken care of on that
point because I can speak the  language and have the credentials to argue
my point well enough to  influence the strategy or make the call.

I think that our profession is  very important, but like any other
profession affected by technology, we  are going to morph into something
new enabled by technology:  Auto  mechanics have become computer
technologists, nurses have become physician  assistants, engineers no
longer use slide rules (at least, not much), and  few farmers would care
to milk a cow by hand.  

About 10 years  ago, the Registered Records Administrators of the
American Medical Records  Association changed their name and credential
to Registered Health  Information Administrators of the American Health
Information Management  Association just to realign socially with IT and
mark a milestone in the  charge to acquire new skills sets.  

Maybe the time has come to  freshen up our skill sets and "repackage" our
profession for visibility  more successful marketing.

Have a nice evening everyone!!!

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