Conquer Information Chaos

Thinking About Web Rankings...

There is a lot of discussion in the web community about how to measure site traffic and effectiveness.

One method is based on the equivalent of the old Nielsen “panels.” In other words, a sample is tracked and the results extrapolated to determine an overall ranking. Here is how a variety of sites in the industry fare using these rankings...

The lower the number the better...

On Alexa.com...

AIIM.org = 322,060 and 741 inbound links
KMworld.com = 340,959 and 928 inbound links
Fiercecio.com = 1,005,506 and 58 inbound links
ARMA.org = 1,162,598 and 394 inbound links
ECMconnection.com = 1,187,531and 141 inbound links
Tawpi.org = 2,981,774 and 105 inbound links
Techinfocenter.com = 5,685,167 and 13 inbound links

On compete.com...

AIIM.org = 242,507
KMworld.com = 261,245
ECMconnection.com = 425,885
Fiercecio.com = 684,330
Techinfocenter.com = 716,895
ARMA.org = 888,056
Tawpi.org = n/a

I would be a poor salesman for my own organization based on these results if I didn't provide a link to our Market Access materials for information on how to tap into this traffic.

There are starting to be evaluation sites using direct measurement as well. An interesting one that I’ve found is quantcast.com. Check them out at http://www.quantcast.com. Download one of the sample reports list under recently qualified publishers for an example...

My favorite posts -- week 3

From outside AIIM...

For those looking for some good presentations, check out Russ Stalters' new presentations page. 

Bill Ives has collected a series of Enterprise 2.0 success stories in a single post.  Given how hard it is to find non gobbledy-gook (sp?) information on either web 2.0 or enterprise 2.0, it's worth checking out.

Steve Bailey as a fun post on a series of exchanges related to records management, information management, and web 2.0 technologies.  This is an area of interest to me.  The control/access pendulum is in motion.

Garr Reynolds (Presentation Zen) site has a thoughtful post critiquing Steve Jobs' keynote at MacWorld.  (Note for readers, if you haven't read his new book, Presentation Zen, it's great.)  Within the post is a very funny condensing of Jobs' keynote into one minute.

Given the news from the markets over the past week, Jim Novo's Marketing into a Downturn is worth a look.

From AIIM blogs...

My colleague Carl Frappaolo comments on the ever changing world of web 2.0 in Tony Soprano Meets Web 2.0.  Also don't forget to take our new Market IQ survey on Enterprise 2.0 -- you'll see a link in the article -- and get a free copy of the results.

I've been inspired by some of my fellow bloggers to recap the year and hopefully list some useful content all in one place....

On all the items below, feel free to use whatever you like -- our objective at AIIM is to get the word out about the industry and help this crazy industry achieve its full potential.  Just attribute back to me and to AIIM anything you use -- or just link to the original piece and use on your web site; that's fine.  If you have any questions how to do so, ping me at johnmancini@aiim.org.

Some of my EDOC Columns...

Positioning for a Flat World -- November/December 2007
The Shifting ECM Landscape - What's Next? -- September/October 2007
To and Fro: Access versus Control -- July/August 2007
Sausage, Laws, and ECM -- May/June 2007
Giving You What You Want -- March/April 2007
New E-discovery Rules: the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly -- January/February 2007

The Great Oxymoron -- Information Management -- from the AIIM Buyers Guide

Anybody out there thinking about the new thin Mac?

With apologies to Julie Andrews, these are a few of my favorite posts -- Week 2

From outside AIIM...

From Brilliant Leap, some interesting commentary of the FAST acquisition and Microsoft, including a cool title (Mr Softy). And also CMS Watch's take. And John Newton's, with a Laurel and Hardy graphic. Eric Kintz, who is Vice President of Strategy & Marketing for HP's Web Services and Software division, focuses more on the overall battle between Microsoft and Google.

A good tirade on email by Alan Pelz-Sharpe (perhaps I like it because it mirrors some of my own feelings).

A good collection of links by George Dearing abusing all things 2.0.

I won't link to a particular post, but I always find Seth Godin's blog thought-provoking. I'm about 1/2 way through Meatball Sundae -- you really ought to get it.

From AIIM blogs...

Carl Weise talks about the role of a Model Office in creating a replicable and controllable environment for testing ERM implementations.

Carl Frappaolo's take on the acquisition of FAST by Microsoft.

Announcement of a new AIIM training program on PDF/Archive.

And lastly, a quick rant. I know there are traffic generation and quantification reasons for sending out truncated post summaries instead of the full post, but does it tick anyone else off?

Bill Gates at CES

Thanks to Garr Reynolds (who by the way has a fantastic blog for anyone who makes a lot of presentations -- Presentation Zen) for this post from CES on Bill Gates' Last Day at Microsoft.

For those who can't get the embedded link, the direct link is HERE.

Video: Bill Gates Last Day CES Clip

Who 'Gets' Mail?

Click on Link for complete article from Government Technology News...
Who 'Gets' Mail? - Government Technology.

An agency employee gets a subpoena demanding the e-mails she exchanged with a contractor last year. Can the agency produce all those messages? Can it find them quickly, or must staff spend hours hunting them down on backup tapes? Can the agency prove that the file it turns over is complete and that content is unaltered?

Questions like these indicate some of the reasons governments need policies and tools for managing e-mail.

On the whole though, few organizations - in the public or private sector - have implemented solid e-mail management strategies, said John Mancini, president of AIIM, the Enterprise Content Management Association. Failure to do so harms them in several ways, he said. "It's the legal exposure. It's the process inefficiency. It's the cost associated with storage of all this stuff."

Participate in AIIM's groundbreaking study on Enterprise 2.0

Participate in AIIM's groundbreaking study on Enterprise 2.0.

Often confused with Web 2.0, Enterprise 2.0 presents a unique set of challenges and opportunities. While many corporate executives believe Enterprise 2.0 will have a major impact on business, few understand exactly what it is or how to manage it.

Your participation in this survey will result in unprecedented benchmarks regarding the realities and myths of Enterprise 2.0. As a survey participant you will receive an early release of the report.

Please follow this link for the Market IQ Survey on Enterprise 2.0: http://aiimmarketintelligence.questionpro.com/

If you have any problems connecting via the link, please paste it directly into your browser.

The survey process is simple:
--The survey should take no more than 20 minutes to complete;
--Participants get early access to the survey results at no charge.
--Participants are free to use the survey results in their internal programs, with reference to AIIM.

As a special thank you, we will make a $500 contribution to a charitable organization of your choice.
The popular vote determines the charity we donate to. Choose from:
--OXFAM International
--UNICEF
--amfAR - the Foundation for AIDS Research
--The International Federation of Red Cross & Red Crescent Societies
--International Heifer Fund

We sincerely value and appreciate your participation in this important program. Together we will create a most valuable industry resource.

Thank you.

Carl Frappaolo
Vice President
AIIM Market Intelligence

Top 10 Digital EDOC Stories of 2007

As many of you know, we introduced a digital version of EDOC Magazine early in 2007. Nearly 20,000 readers have taken advantage of this delivery option.

Of course, one of the advantages of on-line media vs. more traditional print magazines is the ability to tell exactly what people are looking at. The top 10 Digital EDOC stories for 2007 (we began electronic distribution with the second issue) -- drumroll please -- were [Note: Does not include the November/December issue]:

#1: Records Management 101 by Charmaine Brooks -- Understanding is the first step toward knocking out poor records management.
#2: Seven New Sharepoint 2007 Document Management Features by Russ Stalters.
#3: 10 ECM Pitfalls by Ravi Ramanathan and Dave Susanto -- Understand and avoid these common mistakes that can undermine the success of an ECM implementation.
#4: BPM: Transforming the Organization by Marcia Jedd -- BPM is more things to more people today as a range of providers offer solutions of varying stripes.
#5: Can't We All Get Along by Bob Larrivee -- Making Document Management Work for You.
#6: What's The Difference? Is There a Difference Between Document and Records Management by Steven Goodfellow.
#7: Ten Steps to Prepare for E-Discovery by Mike Mansperger -- Preparing the foundation for successful e-discovery takes time.
#8: BPM -- How Does It Fit In An ECM Strategy? by Bill Chambers.
#9: Eliminate Records Clutter by Carl Weise -- Getting rid of records and content isn't a bad thing.
#10: Failure to Communicate by Steve Kass.

A couple of observations about all this:

It reinforces other research that we've done that there is a terrific appetite out there for basic information about records and documents. It also reinforces surveys that we've done on the links between document and records and core processes (begging the chicken/egg question of which comes first, ECM or BPM?). It highlights the appetite out there for information on Sharepoint and the connection points between Sharepoint and other ECM systems. Lastly, I'm personally glad to see two of our AIIM trainers -- Bob Larrivee and Carl Weise -- in the top 10, reinforcing a core objective that we had when we introduced our Training program and our Market Intelligence program -- to bring more smart people into the organization.

The Viral Goating Recap

The Viral Goating Honor Roll:

Many thanks to those blog readers who participated in our "viral goating" holiday benefit. (For background, see THIS LINK).

• Rich Palerea is a former AIIM staffer and now COO of PA & Associates.  PA & Associates provides completely outsourced and managed solutions for request for proposals, bid evaluations, vendor selection, rate negotiation, implementation, data analysis and reporting for businesses of all types.
• Rob Martin donated his gift in honor of his Mother, who appreciates some good done in the world over “stuff” in her life. His link reflects a passion for old cars. He decided last year to start a classic car rental business, for people who want to experience driving a beautiful and fun car, but may not have room in their life to own one.  He has started small with one car, but will add one or two every year, and can hopefully move to this full-time someday. The link is http://www.LitchfieldClassicCarRental.com
• AIIM staff member Theresa Resek donated a goat despite worries about her dog would feel about the newest member of the family. Theresa recently introduced a new AIIM Job Center -- it's worth checking out whether you are an employer or employee.
• Another AIIM staff member, Dan Keldsen is a big contributor to Heifer. He usually goes for a mix on animals and plants, this time a Flock of Ducks, Honeybees, Trees and a Pig. Here's the link for his always insightful BizTechTalk blog.
• Betsy Fanning is a current AIIM staffer and director of the AIIM Standards Program.  Betsy ordered a sheep instead of a goat, but we're counting her anyway! 
• Stephen Lui is with WinTec Consultancy Limited, an AIIM Education Partner in Hong Kong.  WinTec Consultancy Limited is an independent consulting company provides consulting and training services on Enterprise Content Management (ECM) technologies for any organizations, large or small, who understand the challenges associated with managing documents.
• Cecille Hansen is involved in the Little Bit Therapeutic Riding Center.  This is a wonderful program program in Woodinville, WA, that uses horses and riding to aid all sorts of disabled people.
• Jessica Lombardo heads up our chapter network and our professional membership program. She and her family donated a goat and her daughter Neika also chose a flock of chicks as a gift to her Kindergarten teachers at Hope Community Charter School in DC.
• Former AIIM Chair Barry Lurie signed himself Eumaeus in his email to me, and wisely explained that Eumaeus was the goat herder in the Odyssey.  I had originally thought it might be the newest free agent signing for the Phillies.
• Michele Melichar from Lockheed Martin joined the list and even bought a copy of Will's Christmas List.
• Sabrina Stratford (who is also an AIIM ECM Practitioner!) is from Capataris.  Check out their FREE GUIDE to justifying your Document Imaging project.
• Jana Wiggins from Docuvantage was one of our first viral goaters. Check out their web site for information on Improving the Way You Manage Your Documents and Information.
• The first to join the goating campaign was incoming AIIM Chair Bob Zagami from Databank IMX.  Bob wanted his gift to recognize Billy Murphy, a colleague at Databank IMX.  Billy is suffering through a second bout with cancer and he is not doing well.  Bob notes that Billy "is fighting it with every once of energy in his body.  He’s done so much for our company, and others, that this is the least I can do to remember Billy at this time of year.  Somebody else will benefit and grow through these donations and perhaps there’s another Billy Murphy out there someplace that will carry on his tradition of helping others and always smiling in the face of adversity, no matter what challenges life throws at them."  I've met Billy on a number of ocassions, and he is an awesome guy.

With Regrets

I just got word that a friend of mine from the AIIM Community, Bill Murphy, passed away on New Year's Day. I wrote about Bill in a post from a few months ago. The "other half" of this picture that was sent around by Bob Zagami from DatabankIMX that you can't see is me. Bill was my golf partner at the New England Chapter's Horace Mann golf tournament in July.

AIIM is a lot of things to a lot of people. For many vendors, it is an important B2B marketing partner and research partner. For many end users, it is a source of rich content and information and training. For me and the other employees, it is how we pay the bills.

But like many other aspects of our lives, in the end analysis AIIM is about the people you encounter along the way and the experiences you share and the lessons you learn. I will miss Bill. I meet a lot of people in this crazy job, but he is one I will remember.

Attention Document and Records Job (and People) Hunters

The new AIIM Job Center is open for business. Whether you are an employer and have a New Year's resolution to hire better people or someone working in the document and records business and looking for a new gig, the AIIM job center is for you. Check it out today.