Greetings... I need some assistance. I work as a marketing consultant with records storage, shredding and related commercial RIM services. Recently I was retained by a client to assist a client of theirs fix their file situation. Immediately I realized that this was a RIM/RM consultant thing and way out of my scope or league. Long story short, they agreed with me and hired me to find them one. This is a mid sized corporation who does not employ a CRM, but do have a number of people involved in the Records Management area. As such, things are a mess. Its not the day to day function necessarily that is the issue, it is all the related issues like storage bills, fear of shredding, not even having a system which has pushed the issue up the org chart to the senior management. I have done my basic homework and realize that retention schedules, record series, filing systems and basic policy and procedure matter. I see the need as being bigger than storage costs, but as a comprehensive requirement for all corporate records including the digital ones as well. And it will mean pain and change for the compnay that will result in huge benefits over the long haul. But, I am not trying to be a RIM consultant nor do I want to be... I just need to know where to start to get this client the best one for their needs within the framework of their budget. To you its probably pretty obvious, but I am a marketing guy, not a RM guy. So, I am coming to you on the listserve for help. Specifically... 1. Have any of you and your companies hired a RIM consultancy firm? If you have, I would like to interact with you offline if that is at all possible. 2. Would you share with me the core issues you had when you made the decision to use a consultant? 3. How did you choose a consultant? What did you learn during the process? What decision criteria did you use in making your choice? 4. Any other things I should be aware of, knowledgeable about before moving forward with requesting proposals from different consulting firms. Would you be willing to talk to me? I would call you at a convenient time for you. You can respond directly offline to me at tom @ rimproinsider.com. We can then determine a time to chat. I would really appreciate it. Thanks in advance... Cheers! Tom Adams RIMproInsider.com 519.571.1191 _________________________________________________________________ Take charge with a pop-up guard built on patented Microsoft® SmartScreen Technology http://join.msn.com/?pgmarket=en-ca&page=byoa/prem&xAPID=1994&DI=1034&SU=http://hotmail.com/enca&HL=Market_MSNIS_Taglines Start enjoying all the benefits of MSN® Premium right now and get the first two months FREE*. List archives at http://lists.ufl.edu/archives/recmgmt-l.html Contact [log in to unmask] for assistance