The recent charges against Representative Mark Foley and demands that his office and the House of Representatives produce and preserve all e-mails and instant messages relative to the investigation highlight the challenges facing organizations of any size in managing e-mails and instant messages. The survey focuses on the current status of e-mail management -- and finds it sorely lacking.
"For most organizations, e-mail management is an oxymoron," notes AIIM President John Mancini. "E-mail and instant messaging have become a critical source of documenting what goes on within organizations, and yet managing this critical information resource is often an afterthought.
"Many organizations (46.9 percent) simply do not allow instant messaging in the workplace, often because they do not have a way to effectively control the content of the messages. Of course, 'not allowing' instant messaging, and in fact making sure that it does not occur are two separate questions."
In terms of the broader question of managing e-mail, most organizations have yet to develop an effective strategy. In response to the question, "How would you characterize your organization's status with respect to IMPLEMENTING an e-mail management strategy (such as archiving, retention, life cycle management, or disposition)?" over 1 in 3 organizations (35.1 percent) have yet to even begin developing an e-mail management strategy. Also:
- 39.7 percent -- Have begun to implement one or more e-mail management initiatives, but much remains to be done.
- 12.5 percent -- Have completed implementation of an overall e-mail management strategy across the entire organization.
- 11.4 percent -- Have completed one or more e-mail management initiatives within particular departments or groups.
- 35.2 percent -- Have not yet begun.
"Very few organizations have reached this basic standard of competency in their e-mail and instant message systems," notes Mancini. "For most organizations, what passes for e-mail archiving is the creation of massive .pst back-up files that no one knows what to do with. Effective e-mail archiving is done by less than 15 percent of those we surveyed."
Survey Question: How does your organization view e-mail archiving?
- 8.4 percent -- As a stand-alone application.
- 7.4 percent -- As part of an overall ECM strategy.
- 25.5 percent -- As part of an overall strategy for managing information of all types.
- 45.9 percent -- As the responsibility of the individual employee.
- 10.3 percent -- We haven't begun to think about it.
