Ask the Expert - Content / Document Management Applications

Featuring Brent Gatewood
Sponsored by ARMA International

Plan Before Implementing RM Technologies

Editor's Note: The answers to these questions were excerpted from the article, "Ready, Set, Whoa! Plan Before Implementing RM Technologies," in the March-April 2010 issue of Information Management magazine. You can access the full article here.

Your organization has made the commitment to move forward with an electronic records and information management system. Through careful planning and research, you've found and selected the "right" solution and are ready to deploy. Now what?

Q: Who should be involved in RM technology implementations?

It is vital that the records management team be part of this process from the beginning. If initial RM team involvement isn’t possible to this point, a process should be in place for its engagement at the earliest possibility. To proceed smoothly, your organization will need to have several teams in place, which will include key members of various business units throughout the organization.

Teams are important because its members will provide continuity throughout the entire process. At a minimum, there is a need for two teams – an executive project team, which ideally will be the one involved from the beginning of the process, and an implementation team. The makeup of these teams is very important, as their members will be directly focusing on the implementation and, ultimately, the look and feel of the end solution. Representatives from information services/technology, legal, records management, and human resources, as well as from key operational groups, are key candidates for the executive team.

The implementation team will be more focused on the technology and its implementation, including proof of concept, pilot, and ultimate rollout. It should be comprised of knowledgeable workers and management with broad exposure to the organization. These individuals should also have a deep understanding of the organization’s culture regarding tools and expectations. The size of this team should be small to allow it to be as nimble as possible.

Q: What are the first steps in planning a records management technology implementation?

Although it is tempting to rush through the process of negotiating with your vendor in order to get the software purchased and installed, this step is just as important as selecting the vendor.

Four steps can be taken to help you fine tune the project:

1. Set specific goals. What are you trying to accomplish with this implementation? Set goals for both the short and the long term. It is advisable to have staged goals to show measurable progress throughout the engagement. The goals should be functionally and technically focused.
2. Identify the scope. Define the scope in context of the project’s goals. If the scope is too limited, it may be difficult to get departmental acceptance to proceed. If the scope is too large, the implementation could become too complicated and may fail. The scope should be based on relevance to the organization while showing the capabilities and benefits of the selected solution.
3. Finalize the statement of work. Once the goals and scope have been finalized, the team needs to work with the vendor to develop the statement of work. The statement of work will guide all parties through the initial implementation of the solution and should identify resources and timeliness, as well as milestones. The best for all parties is to have a carefully drafted and specific statement of work that all parties can work against. This is a critical document.
4. Align your resources. The larger the organization, the more detailed the resource requirements are for internal scheduling and compliance. Aligning these resources often involves managing internal and external team availability and lead times. Often resource issues are not with external parties, they are internal. One way to make this a success is to have the internal resources review the statement of work and project plan as soon as possible in order to identify any timing or resource issues.

Q: Why is an implementation plan important?

Prior to the kick off of the implementation, all parties must agree to the initial project plan. It is important to check for other projects that may be competing for similar resources. Understanding the competing projects will help your team to staff appropriately and manage expectations. Next, it is necessary to fully understand the IT/IS processes as they relate to new technology in your organization. Most organizations have detailed processes for bringing new technologies on board.

Q: What are the special issues related to implementing RM technology globally?

If you are a multinational organization, odds are that your software deployment will eventually extend to other countries. Is your organization ready for a multinational implementation? To determine your readiness answer the following:

1. Does your organization have rules documented and in place for all the countries where it does business?
2. Is your records retention schedule comprehensive and does it cover all the information in all of the countries where you do business?
3. Are the privacy laws known and documented throughout the organization?
4. Is the legal team aware of these issues and are there policies in place to address them?

Q: How important is education and training during an implementation?

Education is important at this stage as it answers the main questions employees have: “Why?” The “why” needs to be clearly defined and documented. Work closely with your education and training department or team to develop a message that addresses the needs of the organization. People typically don’t like change – especially if the change will affect how they do their daily work. Work closely with the change management team in your organization.

Once employees understand why the changes are occurring, it is then time to train them on the new tools that will be put in place. If the users are not trained and given sufficient reference material, the implementation will likely fail. Without proper training and collateral material, the end user will gravitate toward what they did before, or toward what appears to be the easiest. It is important the users utilize the system in the manner that maximizes the benefit to them and the company.

Q: Following the implementation, how often should the teams meet and what should they focus on?

Communication is the one thing that will keep your team focused and on task. Having a meeting for the sake of having a meeting is wrong. Having a meeting to keep everyone’s focus is vital. Decide what your interval should be, but pick it (e.g., daily, weekly, or monthly) and stick to it. The meetings should focus on the goals and activities relevant to the plan and current status. The key is keeping all parties informed and working together. All of the meetings and the next steps should be documented.