The simple end user trade off in records management systems that users need to be reminded to appreciate

Lots of people (who haven’t had their records moment) would breathe a sigh of relief if we took away a records management system.

I think that’s because they don’t understand what a records management system does.

Records management systems ask one simple thing of users – put your record here, and we’ll take care of the rest.

I think we’ve forgotten to remind people of just how complex “the rest” is, and I think that’s one of the reasons that people don’t appreciate just how good the systems are (even when they’re not so friendly).

I think it’s also one of the reasons Records Managers are under constant pressure to use commodity systems that don’t have anywhere near the capability required to do the job properly.

Records management systems ask for a very simple trade off – put your stuff in a greatly simplified “right spot”, and then you won’t have to learn just how complex records is.

I think that’s a point worth reinforcing regularly.