(EMAILWIRE.COM, May 16, 2008 ) Silver Spring, MD - Email is arguably the single largest source of information creation for most organizations. Yet for the majority, email is poorly managed – if at all. According to recent research performed by AIIM’s Market Intelligence Group, email has become the biggest content security concern for corporate America. In response to this national problem, the industry association AIIM has introduced a new Email Management training program based on industry best practices for improving the control of corporate emails.

Email plays a significant role in documenting decisions and conducting the business of an organization. It is truly an enterprise-wide, mission-critical application that affects every user in an organization. AIIM’s recent study reveals that only 49% of survey respondents are “very” or “quite confident” that they can, if challenged, demonstrate that their electronic information is accurate, accessible, and trustworthy. Thirty three percent are “slightly confident” and 19% of the 652 respondents are “not confident” at all.

Organizations are at risk when they don’t retain important emails as records. Emails should only be kept according to their value for the organization. Many organizations also underestimate compliance and e-discovery costs. In the survey, only 38% said they are “very” or “quite confident” that emails related to documenting commitments and obligations made by staff are recorded, complete, and retrievable. Thirty-two percent of the respondents are “slightly confident” and 30% are “not confident” at all.

IDC’s latest update to their “Expanding Digital Universe Report” estimates that we will have 10 times more electronic information in 2011 than in 2006, which could mean 10 times more emails in your inbox and on your mail server. Another survey by AIIM, Cohasset Associates, and ARMA shows that 40% of organizations still do not include electronic records in their retention schedules. And risks will continue to increase when volumes increase unless we get email under control.

“U.S. organizations need to get their emails under control,” states John Mancini, President of AIIM. “Our new Email Management Certificate Program based on best practices amongst our 50,000 Associates and Professional members will provide organizations with a better understanding of how to improve the control of their corporate emails.”

“We are pleased to see that some organizations have now started to understand the risks and costs associated with emails,” says Atle Skjekkeland, Vice President of AIIM. “Thirty five percent of the survey respondents expect to spend significant or slightly more on email management technologies this year compared to last year. Respondents also rated email management as one of the top application interests for the next 12-18 months.”

AIIM’s new Email Management (EMM) Certificate Program is designed from global best practices among AIIM's 50,000 Associates and Professional members, and provides course attendees with an understanding of industry best practices, and existing and emerging technologies for managing corporate emails. The course objectives and content were defined and reviewed by subject matter experts in AIIM’s Education Advisory Groups. Course materials were based on the objectives and developed by Jesse Wilkins and other industry experts at Access Sciences Corporation.

AIIM has classes scheduled across North America and also provides online courses for attendees’ convenience. Students learn about email capture and retention; technologies for email management; email storage, archiving and backup; email classification; developing, implementing, and managing an email policy; and governance. Attendees receive access to supporting online courses and exams, and are awarded the AIIM EMM Practitioner, Specialist and Master designation after passing the online exams (and case study for Master candidates).

For more information about the AIIM training program, visit www.aiim.org/training.

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AIIM (www.aiim.org) is the community that provides education, research, and best practices to help organizations find, control, and optimize their information.

For over 60 years, AIIM has been the leading non-profit organization focused on helping users to understand the challenges associated with managing documents, content, records, and business processes. Today, AIIM is international in scope, independent, implementation-focused, and, as the representative of the entire ECM industry - including users, suppliers, and the channel - acts as the industry's intermediary.

AIIM was founded in 1943 as the National Microfilm Association and later became the Association for Information and Image Management. AIIM is also known as the Enterprise Content Management Association.

For more information, contact:

Beth Mayhew
Director, Marketing
301.755.2681
bmayhew@aiim.org

Atle Skjekkeland
Vice President
301.755.2657
askjekkeland@aiim.org

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Contact Information:
AIIM
Beth Mayhew
Tel: 301.755.2681
Email us