Jean-Luc Chatelain, CTO of Information Optimization at HP Software, discusses eight things you can do to successfully launch and manage an information management project. Here are two:

Executive Sponsorship
He starts with the need for senior executive sponsorship at the outset:

A new strategy will involve investments and organizational changes. Without active and visible senior executive support and commitment, any strategy or plan will be set for failure from the beginning.

Many of the executives I work with simply want to know that the project has been well thought-out and has a reasonable chance of success. The process of getting sponsorship forces you to develop and refine your plans, and it gives the senior executive the understanding he or she needs in order to really commit to your project and champion it at the highest levels. Think of this stage not as a chore but as a challenge that increases your project’s chances of success.

Paper is Still Cool
His next point is that information management didn’t start with the advent of electronic communication. People have been organizing paper-based information for centuries, and there’s a lot to be learned from these practices:

It is crucial to understand that you cannot simply adopt the old policies and processes and make them electronic – you will need to adapt them. For example, policies and processes for handling paper memos will not work for emails that have a different order of magnitude and contain a plethora of irrelevant content.

The other six points are equally important. Head over to Digital Landfill to read them, and while you’re there, check out the other entries in John Mancini’s “8 things” series.