SharePointRecordsManagement.com

Just so everyone knows, I will be in Sin City attending the ARMA 2008 show (and playing way too much Blackjack) October 20th through the 23rd.  I will be working my company’s booth on and off, but I’d love to talk to anyone who is managing their records using SharePoint or who may just be thinking about it.

Drop me a note if you’re interested in talking.

I get a lot a people asking me if I think they can really manage their records using SharePoint by itself.  It’s an understandable question.  After all, SharePoint has been managing documents for years, but didn’t get into the records management game until the release of MOSS 2007 just last year.

Before I answer the question, let me make something clear.  I do not work for Microsoft and I don’t have anything personal to gain by promoting their products.  SharePoint’s Records Management functionality is far from perfect and there is still a lot of work for Microsoft to do to provide a more robust solution.  (I intend to discuss these shortcomings in future posts.)  I also have nothing against the older, more established Records Management applications.  They all provide some excellent Records Management functionality (though usually at a significant price).

That being said, I can confidently say, yes, you can manage your records effectively using SharePoint.  Here’s why: SharePoint is not an application, it is a platform.  That means that, given the right developers, you can make SharePoint do basically whatever you want it to.  Trust me, I’ve seen it done.  MOSS 2007 comes with some fundemental Records Management features out of the box.  These features – which I will discuss over the course of this blog – are enough to design a very basic Records Management solution for your organization.  Given this basic solution, you can programatically add the type of functionality that you require to manage a significant amount of your organization’s records.  And all of this may be done without paying for a third party Records Management application and using developers you already have on staff.

Oh, and here’s the cool part: Microsoft has committed to making Records Management a core capability of SharePoint.  Now I don’t have any inside information so don’t quote me, but I have been working with the Microsoft Office Product Team on and off for a few years and I know that they intend to continue to build on the functionality provided in MOSS 2007.  And if your organization is just beginning to design your Records Management solution, you probably won’t put your system into production for another year or two – just about the time Microsoft will release the next version of Office.  Migrating your solution over to the new SharePoint (with the advanced Records Management features) will be a snap.

Now I wouldn’t want to convince you to use SharePoint without investigating other applications.  That would be irresponsible of me and shortsighted on your part.  But I’d like you to know that I think SharePoint should at least be on your list of potential solutions when you and your organization investigate what’s available.

Hello and welcome to my SharePoint Records Management blog. This is the first of what I hope to be many posts discussing Records Management using Microsoft Office SharePoint Server. I started this blog with the hope of clarifying some myths about SharePoint and Records Management, as well as providing a forum for people to ask questions and discuss their own real-world experiences.

Let me introduce myself. My name is Don Lueders and I am a Certified Records Manager (CRM) with a long history in Information Technology. I am also a Certified Document and Imaging Architect (CDIA).  I have worked with virtually all the major Records Management applications during my career and they are all fine solutions, but I am convinced that SharePoint is poised to become the predominate application in not just Records Management, but Enterprise Content Management in general and I want to make sure I’m along for the ride.

My current position with a small ECM consulting firm allows me to experience a great deal of hands-on SharePoint Records Management work and I have come to realize that there simply aren’t enough resources available for Records Management professionals that provide the type of SharePoint information we need.  I hope this blog can become one of those resources.

So thank you for coming and please check back in soon.

Oh, and you’re probably wondering about the beach theme.  I guess I just like the beach.  Don’t worry, it will probably wear off soon enough…