At 09:01 AM 11/5/2004 +0300, you wrote:
>Dear colleagues,
>
>Can someone explain to me the logic behind some main conclusions of the
>Forrester survey, namely:
>
>-  "RIM professionals have an exaggerated sense of their final
>responsibility for ERM policies and user requirements",
>-  "Rim professionals may not be fully aware of all ERM activity within the
>enterprise".
>
>I don't see how survey data support these conclusions. IMHO if RIM data were
>gathered among ARMA members i.e. the cream of the profession, it's quite
>natural to see higher role for RIM in their responses!


Natasha,

I couldn't have said it better myself.

=)

My suggestion is IF you are an ARMA member, you bring this same comment to
the ARMA Forum, and ask those who commissioned the Study to explain what
exactly they were expecting the outcome to be, or what it was they
challenged Forrester to come up with.

In the present situation, I would have expected ARMA to come up with
something that was intended to "energize" the profession and encourage them
to seize the opportunity at hand and to use it to their best advantage to
further the understanding of the value RIM brings to the table when it
comes to helping organizations achieve the compliance so many of them are
seeking.

Instead, a month or two before the International Conference where over 1000
(and I think this year the number was closer to 2000) members of the
Records and Information Management Profession gathered to share experiences
and idea in a face-to-face setting we saw a report come out that concluded
we better hang on for dear life, or plan to be marginalized, because we
were becoming insignificant.

If anyone heard Randy Kahn's speech and saw his presentation (and yes,
Laurie... I know you did =) ) it was more in-line with the kind of message
we should have seen the Forrester Report deliver... this is the PRIME
OPPORTUNITY for records and information management professionals to be
INCLUDED, not EXCLUDED from the mix... we simply need to make the case for
inclusion.

If ARMA wanted to spend the money to have a study done, the study should
have been done to determine how the Profession could best position itself
to reap the benefits of the current business climate and then a promotional
and awareness campaign should have been launched to raise the level of
knowledge that the RIMs are the key to achieving success in many of these
compliance efforts, and they should be invited to the table seeing as much
of what organizations are attempting to achieve is what RIM is all about.

AND... NO, I don't think it's all ARMA's job, we need to do more ourselves
(at least those of us who aren't being invited to the table) BUT I think
it's a big part of ARMA's job to help provide the Profession with the tools
to help the rest of us achieve these goals.  White papers on the role RIM
plays in compliance projects, the knowledge, skills and tools RIM brings to
the table, on how to market what we do to our organizations, more articles
in the trade journals and other publications management reads to make them
aware of what we do and can offer,  THIS is where I see ARMA's role in the
issue.

Okay, enough from me on a cold Friday morning in Northern California... my
blood sugar must be low.

Larry

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