RIMtech
Where Software meets Recordkeeping
RIMtech is a vendor-neutral consulting services firm specializing in electronic recordkeeping technology implementation. We help you understand, select and implement Enterprise Content Management software for managing electronic records. We help you answer the following questions:
Can I use Microsoft SharePoint to manage our electronic records?
What software application should I use for managing our corporate records?
Do I need US DoD 5015.2 certified software?
We have ECM Software that manages records but there is very low adoption of recordkeeping capabilities
What do we need to do for user acceptance?
How do I know if our system is being successfully utilized?
Why have so few organizations achieved electronic recordkeeping?
What does it take to implement electronic recordkeeping?
What are the costs and resources need for electronic recordkeeping?
Is our organization equipped for electronic recordkeeping?
We help in the following ways:
Strategic consulting services with your corporate team. We publish helpful reports reports on topical issues regarding electronic recordkeeping We are publishing a book “Managing Electronic Records”, due out soon. Public speaking at conferences worldwide A blog on electronic recordkeeping Managing Electronic Records – a Methodology for Success Reports Product Reports and Reviews, e.g. Microsoft SharePoint, GimmalSoft Electronic Recordkeeping Using RIMtech to assist with e-records implementation can greatly increase your odds of a successful outcome: Deep e-records technology understanding. 15 years of e-records software development and engineering experience. Implementation Experience. Involvement in 70+ real-world implementations over the past decade. Unmatched experience in the practical side of technology implementation. Thought Leadership. Mr. Miller is a respected thought leader in electronic recordkeeping. He is currently bringing clarity to issues such as Information Lifecycle Management (ILM) and Retention Management. Physical Records. Equally as important as e-records, physical records (e.g. paper) need unique treatment. RIMtech understands the difference, and the challenges in managing both physical and electronic records as a single corporate asset. Regulatory Compliance. RIMtech understands the various regulations and can interpret them to your particular business. Sarbanes Oxley, CFR21 Part 11, SEC/NASD, and more. Project Management. RIMtech brings a strong PM discipline to e-records projects, with clear objectives, clearly enumerated goals and milestones, and empiric measurements to determine progress and success against business objectives. RIMtech Beliefs/Opinions Following are some of the core opinions/beliefs currently held by RIMtech that tend to shape its approach to the EDRMS marketplace: There are very few truly successful EDRMS Implementations. We define “success” as an ECM system with full recordkeeping accountability deployed and utilized, whereby users are declaring records, classification is measured and is accurate, and records disposition is being carried out in full accordance with the approved corporate retention schedule. Rimtech believes there are fewer than a handful of such projects in North America. The soft side of EDRMS projects is more important than the software. We believe that to be successful, as much as 75% of any EDRMS project resources (both financial and human) must be expended on non-technical “soft” issues such as the culture of recordkeeping and change management. Microsoft SharePoint 2010 will be dominant. RIMtech does not favour any particular vendor in any way. We believe that SharePoint 2010 will be widely implemented and used for ECM across the market, and subsequently there will be great demand for electronic recordkeeping within SharePoint. Microsoft SharePoint 2010 has recordkeeping gaps. SharePoint delivers 72 of the 168 US DoD 5015.2 requirements, but falls just 33 capabilities short of RIMtech’s F-1000 (Fortune 1000) recordkeeping requirements. This gap can be readily closed for formal recordkeeping within SharePoint 2010. Not all organizations require US DoD 5015.2 capabilities. RIMtech believes that only 105 of the 168 US DoD 5015.2 capabilities are required for many (Fortune 1000) organizations. GimmalSoft is a potential market game-changer .RIMtech does not in any way favour GimmalSoft. GimmalSoft’s forthcoming Compliance Suite for SharePoint delivers full 5015.2 capabilities to SharePoint (September 2011), which means that SharePoint buyers will now have immediate access to all needed recordkeeping capabilities in SharePoint. RIMtech believes that this will have a major market impact on the acceptance, and implementation of SharePoint for corporate recordkeeping. Project results must be measured. There are (3) key measurement metrics to determine the success of all EDRMS projects. These metrics must be carefully measured and constantly evaluated in order to ensure the initial and ongoing success of any EDRMS project. Few organizations are equipped to handle EDRMS Projects. Most corporate records managers are fully consumed with existing legacy responsibilities, and are therefore not in a position to bear the load of a new EDRMS project on top of existing duties. Furthermore, many do not have the exposure or access to sophisticated EDRMS software to fully understand the recordkeeping capabilities -- there is no way they can possibly grasp the capabilities and limitations of the product. The software has no means of measuring key project metrics. And most organizations lack a concrete roadmap of how to run and operate a corporate-wide EDRMS project. IT and IM need to be more tightly bound. For a successful EDRMS project, IM must be an integral part of the products and services delivered by IT. In too many organizations, the IT and recordkeeping roles and services are too distinctly separated, much to the detriment of the EDRMS project.