Hi Stephen,

As the Chair of the GARP Steering Task Force for ARMA (the group that lead the development of this tool), I am pleased to hear of your interest in the product!

I completely understand the desire to "see under the hood" a bit so will offer a few comments here.  For anyone interested in the GARP Assessment tool and who has additional questions beyond what I add here, I encourage you to review the ARMA website pages devoted to the tool in detail (if you haven't already, the address to the landing page is www.arma.org/GARP/assessment) and/or to contact ARMA HQ with your additional questions.

As to the Assessment questions, there are approximately 100 detailed questions in the Assessment, spanning all 8 principles.  The questions posed seek to measure critical program characteristics and components.  Each question has seven possible responses.  Five of the responses relate to the associated level of GARP maturity, and the other two allow for respondents to assign an "I don't know" or "this does not apply to me" response (both of which can be incredibly illuminating in and of themselves).

The results of the Assessment are presented to the assessor in formal/standard reports (which you can read about on the website), but in addition, and equally if not more valuable, the assessor has a results dashboard that displays a variety of result views and analysis tools that the assessor can use in developing custom reports via exporting to Excel, etc.  For example, you can lift highly relevant individual responses and include them in a memo to management to help highlight the point you want to make with more than just your voice.

Also, there is a great tutorial included with the tool that I strongly recommend you view prior to launching your first assessment.  It will guide you through the assessment planning phase which is critical to ensuring you end up with the insight you are seeking.

I fully intend to purchase and use the GARP Assessment both internally at my company and with my clients.  It is an incredibly detailed tool that will allow for flexible deployment as well as provide robust insight, setting the stage for targeted remediation efforts.

I am happy to chat off line, and/or encourage you to reach out to ARMA HQ with any specific questions.

Regards, 
Julie

Julie J. Colgan, CRM

DISCLAIMER:  All comments are my own and are not intended to speak on behalf of ARMA International.




Sent from my iPad

On Apr 20, 2012, at 9:01 AM, Stephen Smith <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> Dear Colleagues:
> 
> I am sure many of you saw the announcement from ARMA earlier this week about the new GARP Assessment.  My organization is very interested in purchasing the Premium Package and utilizing this tool as a benchmarking standard/risk assessment for our current records management and information governance programs.  Knowing the announcement is now only 3 days old, has anyone purchased either the Basic or Premium Package and tried the assessment yet?  If so, can you provide feedback about the questions and reports provided?
> 
> http://www.arma.org/garp/Assessment.cfm
> 
> Thanks, Steve
> 
> Stephen A. Smith, MLIS, CRM, CIP, CDIA+
> Records Manager
> QVC, Inc.  Internal Audit
> O:      484.701.1559
> F:      484.701.1021
> C:      484.905.2517
> E:      [log in to unmask]
> A:      Studio Park, 1200 Wilson Dr., MC207, West Chester, PA, 19380-4262
> 
> List archives at http://lists.ufl.edu/archives/recmgmt-l.html
> Contact [log in to unmask] for assistance
> To unsubscribe from this list, click the below link. If not already present, place UNSUBSCRIBE RECMGMT-L or UNSUB RECMGMT-L in the body of the message.
> mailto:[log in to unmask]
> 
> This message (including any attachments) contains confidential information intended for a specific individual and purpose, and is protected by law. This e-mail may also contain (a) information subject to the attorney/client privilege, or (b) attorney work product. If you are not the intended recipient of this e-mail (even if the e-mail address above is yours), (i) you may not use, copy or retransmit it, (ii) please delete this message and (iii) please notify the sender immediately. Any disclosure, copying, or distribution of this message or the taking of any action based on it, is strictly prohibited.
> 
> List archives at http://lists.ufl.edu/archives/recmgmt-l.html
> Contact [log in to unmask] for assistance
> To unsubscribe from this list, click the below link. If not already present, place UNSUBSCRIBE RECMGMT-L or UNSUB RECMGMT-L in the body of the message.
> mailto:[log in to unmask]

List archives at http://lists.ufl.edu/archives/recmgmt-l.html
Contact [log in to unmask] for assistance
To unsubscribe from this list, click the below link. If not already present, place UNSUBSCRIBE RECMGMT-L or UNSUB RECMGMT-L in the body of the message.
mailto:[log in to unmask]