On Wed, 26 Jan 2011 Nick De Laurentis, CRM wrote:
>
>I do, however, recognize that similar to email and instant messaging
>not even 10 or so years ago that social media in business is a reality.
>We need to be out in front (no revalation there) of the reality with
>solutions and strategies as RIM professionals.
>
>The interesting point I witnessed this weekend is that society thrives
>on it (see the Maurice Jones-Drew tweet)... the raw emotion and
>spontaneous nature of it.  News and information circulates so fast and
>businesses need to be ready for it, respond to it, and provide solutions
>to capture the rapidly moving market trends to succeed.
>

(...Larry dons his suit of flame retardant armor and fireproof skivvies...)

Once again I would encourage those of us who feel we can change the tides to
think long and hard about our lack of ability to influence decisions that
have already been made by organizations who have their heads up their
collective... well, okay... their heads in the sand about the failure to
think before acting.

Although we may get advance notice that the organization is intending to:

- set up a Facebook page
- set up a Twitter account
- deploy Blackberrys or other phones that allow access to e-mail and other
web based forms of communication
- begin accepting job applications via the web where there really is no
application form, just data in a table

And we can:

- provide multiple examples of others who have done this
- show the problems they have faced
- offer suggestions that 'policy precede process'
- demonstrate the liabilities and risks associated with the actions

We are continually unable to save the organizations from its own demons and
desires to "hold fire in their hands".  

We are records management, or in some cases records AND INFORMATION
management, sometimes a necessity and a function our organizations are
required to have to satisfy a contractual or other obligation, or a business
need... but few, if any of us, are positioned in a manner that we can
influence these types of business decisions ahead of the curve.

It's true that '...society thrives on it...', but business doesn't HAVE TO.
 It's a tool- another way of doing things, but like anything that has come
before it, it doesn't come without risks.  Business typically decides to
make 'knee jerk' decisions that the sexiness of the new technology outweighs
the potential risks of failing to address (in advance) the need to place
controls on it.

Even in highly regulated situations (like the Federal Government) they will
launch into the use of the technology, spending obscene amounts of money to
establish and deploy portals and assign staff to monitor the communications
received, and in some cases, even create positions and appoint staff to
support the new technology... but they don't spend A DIME to write policy
about its use, or to train staff, or to establish methods to control in
content.  

Here is the sound of the barn door slamming after the livestock has all
dispersed on the Federal front...  http://bit.ly/gy1GR7  Here's a tidbit
from the post:

"Agencies cannot ignore their recordkeeping responsibilities because content
appears in a system or platform that is not easily captured by their current
recordkeeping practices. Recordkeeping practices must evolve faster to keep
up with the changing electronic landscape."

So while there may be relevance to the portion of content that meets an
organization's definition of a record and this may be a means of doing
business that serves a purpose... the perception that it should be allowed
prior to determining the potential risks or establishing a means for
effective use and control is a narrow minded one.

Larry
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(YES, it's really me! =) )

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