ARMA and Content World 2009 in (Brief) Review

It’s been a busy past few weeks, with extensive participation at the flagship records management tradeshow, the ARMA Conference in Orlando this past October – and then returning two short weeks later to host our annual user conference, Content World 2009. I had the good fortune to speak in several sessions and panels at both shows and observed resounding appreciation from our customer base, and the broader market, in terms of a few fundamental principles:

• Organizations are struggling with a massive volume of electronic information, first and foremost email, especially insofar as content volume is driving up long-term cost and risk associated with litigation. It’s always good to see nodding heads when you speak to a group – and this point had everyone vigorous in agreement.

• Many perceive that inconsequential, non-business value content is intensifying these costs and risks – they are saving information unnecessarily, often seemingly “forever”. Interestingly, and not surprisingly, the definition of inconsequential content varies wildly across industries – but most organizational representatives agreed that the general practice today is sadly slanted towards saving too much, for too long.

• Functions charged with records management oversight are dubious about the efficacy of purely automated approaches – when it comes to determining what is important to keep, the majority expect some user involvement should be at the forefront.

During the ARMA event in mid October we formally announced version 10.0 of Open Text Email Management for Microsoft Exchange – a selection of the ensuing industry press exemplifies the appreciation and intensifying need for proper email management policies and tools: CMSwire.com and CBRonline.com shared some interesting perspectives – and 01netPro featured some assessment for the French speaking populace.