Electronic document and records management systems (EDRMS) have been implemented over the last 20+ years as “a” means to manage information. Many of these products evolved from systems that were used to manage paper records, and they may be integrated with other business systems if sufficient funding and executive sponsorship exists.

During the 20 years of evolution of EDRMS, time has not stood still, with an explosion in the growth in of digital channels for social interaction and communication: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, YouTube. Medium, Tumblr and Flickr …. The list seems endless.

The rapid changes we are seeing in the social media realm also extend into the broader business environment, with documents generated by multiple business systems and a workforce that is much more mobile.

We have all seen the effects of AirBnB and Uber on the hotel and taxi sectors. Atlassian co-founder Mike Cannon-Brookes believes there is even more significant change in the offing as a result of advances in driverless cars.

He recently stated that for the 2.5 million people driving cars as a significant part of their job, “Those jobs are all going away whether it takes 10 years, 15 years or 20 years, it doesn’t matter”.   

Constant upheaval is challenging, but, it also provides opportunity for innovation, highlighting the need to think differently about our work – to be “change ready”.

In the information management sector, some of the common strategies that are adopted include:

• Using an EDRMS as a single tool to manage documents and records
• Capturing records created by other business systems in an EDRMS, either as an export or a manual process
• Integrating with business systems to capture and manage records via an EDRMS for recordkeeping purposes
• Managing records within source business systems

Sticking with EDRMS as a single tool is becoming less and less practical:

• Business models are less stable – frequent organisational change, services may be provided through third parties, outsourced or privatised
• Organisations implement an array of systems to manage core business functions
• Business systems may have some of the features expected from a record-keeping perspective, but they seldom have all the functionality required to meet record-keeping standards.
• Exporting information from or integrating with business systems is often complex, expensive, takes time to plan and implement.

In a fast-paced business environment there is little tolerance for projects take a long time to implement – agility is needed. To quote one of my favourite songs by Queen – I want it all and I want it now.

So where are the opportunities?

There is definitely the potential to manage our information by design, i.e. looking at the broad information architecture within organisations to:

• Focus on work processes and the information created
• Identify information assets, where they are and how they are managed (beyond EDRMS)
• Take a risk and value based approach, applying scarce resources to mitigate and control risks
• Influence early through established frameworks (Business planning, risk assessment and management, Procurement processes, contract and project management)
• Ensure system requirements address record-keeping requirements, assessing their level of compliance as part of system acquisition or upgrade
• Connecting with other specialist staff managing information security, privacy and access arrangements
• Participating in information governance processes and in other communities of practice

Taking a “by design” approach beyond EDRMS might include:

• Developing simple tools to assist non-specialist staff to navigate requirements as part of their business and system planning activities
• Designing self-assessments for business systems to identify risks and mitigation strategies

• Developing information management plans that are fit for purpose – for simple or complex systems, pre-planning system management, migration or decommissioning

Traditional approaches are changing, as professionals we can add value to management of information across operations, providing guidance as part of business processes and systems – by design.

Toni Anderson is a senior consultant with Recordkeeping Innovation and has worked in the information and records management field for a substantial period in a range of Local, State, Commonwealth government organisations and the private sector, nationally and internationally. Originally published at http://www.records.com.au/blog/