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Who is the REAL MIS Manager in a company anyhow?
Over the years when anyone discussed enhancing an organization's information systems, the Management Information Systems Manager was brought in, right? Seems logical. But although the right title was brought into the discussion, was the right person brought in?
Our focus in the past has been too narrow when discussing Information Systems. Information is much more than just the data running across the corporate network or that which is sitting on the mainframe. As our industry continues to expand and evolve around the concept of Knowledge Management, we need to look at who should have the responsibility of managing this knowledge within an organization.
Think about it. If we get back to the fundamentals of Knowledge Management and what it is, then the fact that a company's knowledge base includes not only the data, but also paper documents, microfilm, multimedia files, CAD, e-mail, communications and people experiences. Many of these items are outside of job responsibilities of the MIS manager. So who should manage all of this? Who should help decide what is kept and what is thrown away? Surely the traditional MIS Manger has to be involved, but who else is key to managing the valuable knowledge within an organization?
Too often we forget about the Records Managers within a company. You know, the people that take care of all that paper that no one wants, but everyone says we should keep just in case we may need it one day.
That is not to say the Records Manager should be running the company, but we need to understand the importance of Records Management when looking at any system that involves the storage of knowledge records within a company.
It is easy to say "Let's just keep everything". But this is impractical. So what do we keep and what do we destroy? Who decides the retention schedule and how files are organized? MIS backups everything on magnetic tape. But how is this data sorted and retrieved? How long do we keep it? What about the items not on the file server or mainframe? Since we are saving more and more everyday, it is becoming too time consuming to find all of the information that we really want.
Records Managers know or have access to the policies, procedures and legal requirements for the information we work with everyday. Why not tap their experience for the good of the whole company?
For those that have implemented an imaging system, how have your documents been organized on optical disk? Do you separate the documents that need to be kept indefinitely from those that have a 90 day life cycle? How are the documents that have to be kept for 7 years or longer going to be read when the optical drive they were created on is not longer produced or if the manufacturer goes out of business in two years? This may not be a concern for documents with a 6 month or one year life, but how about those with a 50 year or more life cycle? When looking at the long term preservation of documents, the changes in technology and the vendor product lines have to be considered. How many of you have an 8" floppy drive around to read those old disks?
So you say, "Just convert to the new media of choice when the old becomes obsolete?" Well with the amount of data being stored on disk today and the number of disks we are creating each day, this becomes a VERY costly procedure for any company. Not to mention the proprietary header information that a vendor could put into their file format that can make it that much more difficult to convert.
Nicole Martin from Image Processing Systems in Denver says anyone who is implementing an imaging system without a record retention schedule already in place is "just asking for trouble." Nicole, who is finishing the Certified Records Manager (CRM) program, brought up the example of an organization who stored everything on optical without regard for record location. What happens if the company is involved in litigation and their records are subpoenaed? Do you give them every optical disk with any information regarding the case? If you do, then you are granting them access to all your other records on that platter not belonging to that case. How do you separate the subpoenaed items from the rest of the documents on the disks? How time consuming and costly would it be to copy every item across several optical disks to a select number of new platters?
I was told of another story of a law enforcement agency in the Southwest that was so wrapped up in the technology of their newly implemented imaging system, that they ignored basic records management policies already used in their paper-based file system. Well, today they are still trying to figure out how they can comply with court-ordered expungements. How do you delete selected records from a worm platter? Deleting the index pointer in this case will not suffice since the index can be recreated from the disk.
Many of today's Records Managers may not have the right skill set to take on the role of a Corporate Knowledge Manager, but they do have some very valuable information that can save headaches down the road. The role of the Records Manager has to change. They have to become much more visible within a organization.
While the MIS Manager reports to either the CFO or CIO (who then reports to the CEO or COO), where does the Records Manager fall in the organizational structure? Not too many report directly to a senior executive. Why? Are the records within our companies not important? Should we change this reporting structure?
There has to be a very close working relationship between the traditional MIS Manager and the Records Managers.
Dianne Hagan, Corporate Records Administrator for Carrier Corporation has been working closely with the Information Technology Department within her company. When asked how she developed this relationship, Dianne states, "This came about by making sure I was invited to key meetings, working with one or two I/S people who came to respect and trust my judgment and experience". Dianne also is involved on an advisory basis during implementation of new technologies, modification of existing systems, purging of data or decommissioning old technologies. "We know we need one another to do what's best for our clients and our company."
"This does not mean that I am always the first one invited to a meeting, but it does mean that my name is out there and that people are listening. I want my clients to know that I am not here to say no to new technologies, but to ensure that access and retention are both elements of implementation," Hagan adds.
So it is imperative that Records Managers and Information Systems Manager work as a team and not against each other. Some day we may evolve into a Director of Technology Systems and a Director of Knowledge Management structure who both report to a CIO or COO.
Are we there yet? No, but until this happens, it is critical for the traditional MIS Manager and the Records Manager to work closely together. Companies must also make sure the Records Manager is involved in any Document Management system implementation for it to be truly successful.
The fact is that everyone in a company needs to be involved in Records Management. The Records Manager's job should be as a facilitator, a knowledge source, and a valuable co-worker. Today's organizations must rely on the Records Manager to help organize the corporate knowledge base, in which we are just beginning to realize it's importance.
Steve Goodfellow is principle of Access Systems, Inc. (Manlius, NY), 315-682-1188, fax 315-682-0865,or send him an e-mail.