Is Your Organization Prepared?

By Terrence J. Coan, President of ARMA International from www.arma.org

The effective management and protection of information is critical to any organization's success. In times of tragedy and disaster, it becomes paramount to survival.

The tragic events of September 11, 2001, served to remind us once again of the need to plan for the unexpected, large and small.

Vital records protection has long been considered an integral part of a comprehensive records and information management (RIM) program. Of course, establishing such a vital records program begins with identifying that information for which access would be absolutely necessary to resume business operations immediately following a disaster. This means that the first challenge is to identify all of the organization's information assets, where they are located, and who needs to access them and why. Finally, an analysis needs to be completed that will determine if the information in question should actually be considered vital and if so, a procedure put in place that will ensure that this information can be retrieved quickly after a disaster.

In today's environment, a large percentage of this vital information will be in electronic formats - residing in one of the organization's many database systems. These may include the records management system, the document management system, customer relationship management system, enterprise-wide resource planning system, Web content management system, or even in a mainframe system. The point is that the "record" may not exist in a neat and tidy package that is easily identified and readily duplicated.

Even more important may be the challenge of convincing senior executives to consider this as they deploy these organization-wide systems. Of course, the most effective way (and shortest route) to convincing senior management is to talk with them on their level. This requires understanding how these information assets contribute directly to the organization's ability to accomplish its strategic objectives. For example, in a financial services company, immediate access to the organization's customer account information may be critical in order to demonstrate to clients that the firm can continue to manage their customer's financial assets without missing a beat. To fall short in this effort may result in panic among customers, causing them to leave the firm and take their business elsewhere, thereby irreparably damaging the firm's viability.

With the events of September 11 still fresh on the minds of business executives, now is an excellent opportunity to pursue the creation, or the updating, of a vital RIM program. As information management professionals, we have a duty to ensure that our organization's information assets are protected as best we can. The result will help to ensure that our organizations are able to continue to fulfill their strategic objectives.