Are You Ready for Enterprise 2.0?
What Records Managers Need to Know
On July 30, 2008, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) unanimously voted to look at websites—specifically interactive technology—as new ways to channel communication between corporations and the investor community. According to a statement made by SEC chairman Christopher Cox, "Ongoing developments in technology have increased both the markets’ and investors’ demand for more timely company disclosure on the Web, and in turn, raised new securities law issues for public companies to consider."
A Strategy for the Agile Enterprise
As a records manager, are you ready for a records and compliance strategy that extends to blogs and discussion forums? If not, get ready. The SEC statement is an interesting and long-anticipated step recognizing a whole new wave of electronic communication and collaboration by business. One year ago in the KMWorld "Best Practices in Records Management and Compliance" white paper, Open Text explored the theme of information governance and the value such a strategy could have for the agile enterprise:
In the knowledge economy, businesses that rely on innovation, technology development, patents, regulated products and creative arts must protect their core assets just as more traditional companies would protect their plants and property... Intangible know-how, specialized knowledge, intellectual capital and cohesive corporate culture are critical resources that do not naturally grow from a records or knowledge management policy driven by only legal compliance pressures.
Records Managers and 2.0
Looking back over the key themes and trends in enterprise content management in 2008, there is a distinct buzz around the term "2.0." Web 2.0, enterprise 2.0, even records management 2.0 are catchy, though not consistently understood, concepts. Companies that have adopted the more holistic concept of information governance rather than narrow regulation and penalty-driven records destruction programs are in prime position now to exploit the new world of communication, collaboration and person-to-person interaction that enterprise 2.0 offers.
People are social creatures—even in the workplace. Meetings, information exchange and conversations are normal means of pooling experience and knowledge. Records are evidence of the work, research and communication of these social creatures. As the modern enterprise changes, organizations are pressured to open up person-to-person information channels, to allow staff to network professionally and personally and to help them circumvent the bottlenecks created—not relieved—by technologies such as email.
A social fabric inside the workplace provides strength in times of uncertainty. As business becomes global, companies often choose to grow by acquisition. Mergers are a disruptive force in the enterprise and cause loss of corporate memory and best practices through staff turnover. Disruption also comes with demographic shifts, as sectors across G8 economies see baby boomer senior management ranks ready to move into retirement or part-time work. As generation Y enters management, their expectations and technology skills will mean very different work habits than their predecessors, and exposure to collective memory, best practices and corporate culture is critical to bridge old and new generations and ensure a smooth transition.
The records and knowledge management programs within an organization can be a key part of the socialization of company goals, and social software tools can help to carry the message. Global or distributed operations often reveal mixed work teams that are temporary or project-based or that are cross-geographical in team membership. What cultural and technological environments must a company provide to make this work? Team collaboration spaces, social networking and chat tools are ideal to break down time zone and language barriers. Is a traditional records-capture approach sufficient to harvest the content and corporate memory now evolving in tools and formats not known inside business even five years ago?
Exploring Web 2.0—Safely
Bringing the easy-to-use personal productivity tools from the Web 2.0 world into the workplace can be painless. Records and compliance professionals must continue to push the envelope and experiment with some of these newer enterprise tools. The following is a list of starting points:
- Understand new media usage policies. Is there a corporate blogging or social media policy for staff? If not, update your email appropriate-use policies.
- Map retention to content function, not file formats. If a retention schedule would put a different rule on a blog-communicated product announcement than the traditional email announcement, it’s time to review the schedule.
- Understand how collaboration tools are used. Are there IT sanctioned or rogue deployments? What needs corporate retention or preservation rules? What about hosted applications or Software as a Service sites? Are content ownership and protection obligations clearly defined?
- Take advantage of the enthusiasm. Tagging pictures on Flickr or blog posts—no problem. Encourage the "personal tagging" of content. Only you need to know it’s real metadata.
- Live the 2.0 experience. Subscribe to blogs, contribute to professional wikis, and join discussion forums on industry websites such as www.AIIM.org or www.ARMA.org. Become comfortable with new social software tools and embrace the benefits.
As one of the largest independent software providers of enterprise content management (ECM) software and solutions, Open Text supports approximately 46,000 customers and millions of users in many of the world’s largest companies, government agencies and professional service firms. Open Text’s ECM solutions suite unites people, processes and content, helping organizations empower business users, control costs and risks and enable the agile enterprise.