Has your information “grown up” yet?

By David Jones

Managing information is a bit like bringing up a child.

“What?” I hear you ask. Well, let me explain…

I had the pleasure of attending the recent AIIM ELC session on mobility in London. The conversation centered around information, how to mobilize it and, of course, how to secure it. So my mind went off on one of its regular tangents.

I should start by saying, having five children, I feel like somewhat of an authority on this. But from an information management perspective, I’ve got a little experience with it, too.

Infancy

Your information needs to be secure – just like a new born baby needs protection and care. You create a safe environment (nursery room or on-premises IT infrastructure) because you want to make sure that no harm comes to your pride and joy.

A lot of organizations are still at this point in the information journey – battening down the hatches to protect what they have.

Early childhood

That’s fine – but at some point your baby becomes a toddler and wants to explore a little. So, you allow that, but within given confines. You hide all of the electrical cables, put locks on the cupboards and cover the edges of cabinets. Oh, and you are there to make sure that whenever he topples over you can pick him up and give him a cuddle to make him feel better.

The information management equivalent of this might be an extra/intranet. This is the starting point of any organization’s information liberation journey. You allow access to corporate information, but only within a very guarded environment, and offer up the first exciting steps towards full information access and sharing. This is a fun time in your baby’s development – and also for an organization, as new demands and expectations lead to a lot of new toys and learning experiences!

Then comes school.

Arrghh. What do you do? Your baby is leaving home for the first time properly and it’s a bit scary. But the changes that you see in your child now are massive. They develop at a rate that is unprecedented as they encounter the big, wide world for the first time, gaining new friends and skills on an almost daily basis.

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