The Future of Records Management

I was asked today, “What’s the future of Records Management look like?”  While it’s perhaps a little dangerous (or at least arrogant) to claim knowledge of the future, I will take the bait and go for it.  Thanks to Allan from Athabasca County for the suggestion, and a disclaimer – these are my views and not necessarily those of my employer.

To look forward we first need to look backward.  I’ve been in information management for more than 16 years now (holy cow).  So much has changed since then – social media, personal devices, cloud services, blockchain – sometimes it feels like a brave new world.  And yet so much has stayed the same.  The most pressing RM trend in 2001 was big buckets in retention schedules.  The most hotly anticipated technology was artificial intelligence (AI) and records auto-classification.  The biggest issue was how to effectively manage email.  Guess what:  we’re still talking about the same things.

Even so there exists today a kind of technological optimism that, pretty soon now, there will be a breakthrough in AI and then RM will be a matter of letting the technology automate everything.  I’m constantly tempted by that notion, but when I get my head out of the clouds, I know not to expect it anytime soon.  Why is that?  Because while the technology to manage information grows steadily, the complexity of information grows rapidly.  We still have nothing but trouble managing email – and the technology is almost 50 years old!!!

I believe that the issues of tomorrow will be the issues of today, but clothed in different colours and styles.  We will be struggling to separate transitory information from official information; we will be looking for more effective ways to identify official information eligible for disposition; we will be striving to protect information from premature destruction through retention policies and legal holds.  There will be a continuing effort to automate records processes and bring information governance principles to structured data, social media, mobile platforms, and the next trend in information sharing, whatever (as yet unknown) form that takes.  Some of you may disagree with me on this, but I haven’t been convinced otherwise yet because information still holds massive legal and operational risk and value, and because it’s what history tells me.

So:  do not believe that the job of the Records Manager is a short-term prospect.  Records Managers (or information managers, or information governance professionals), with their knowledge and experience of the principles of managing information, are critical to organizations moving forward into the next age.

My two cents.  Please leave comments, especially if you agree and more especially if you disagree.

Wayne Hoff, CRM, IGP
ARMA Calgary ICRM Liaison
icrmrep@armacalgary.org