M365 CAB

Hi Carolyn,

In response to your question about building the relationship between ICT and IM, we faced a significant power imbalance as ICT had considerably more influence than IM.

Back in 2020, when Teams was rolled out to support remote work, I realised M365 would create some significant information management challenges.  Therefore, I started working with my manager to build the IM team's capability and strengthen our relationship with ICT so that we could be part of the conversation rather than trying to catch up later.

Over time, IM was moved from Governance, into the same department as ICT, now known as Technology & Business Improvements (TBI).  While this was driven by strong support from our CEO and Executive Leadership Team, the real shift occurred when ICT recognised they were facing storage challenges and needed IM expertise to determine what information should be retained, archived or disposed of.

Around the same time, we recruited for a replacement IM resource and deliberately built M365 responsibilities into the role PD.  This created an opportunity for IM and ICT to work together on SharePoint and Teams governance, information architecture and records compliance.  We are still investing in upskilling, but the partnership continues to grow as we jointly administrate, review configurations, resolve issues and improve our M365 environment.  We also became an early adopter of the T1 SharePoint connectors to our EDRMS (ECM), which makes managing lifecycle of the record possible. 

My biggest takeaways have been:

• Recognise emerging risks and opportunities early.
• Invest in upskilling IM staff so they can support new technologies.
• Position IM as a solution to organisational challenges, not just a compliance function.
• Look for opportunities where ICT needs IM expertise and use those as a foundation for collaboration.
• Secure executive support wherever possible.

While this has increased the workload for the IM team (moving us away from the traditional recordkeeping duties and increase system administrative resposiblities), it has also elevated our role within the organisation, with IM positions subsequently being reclassified.

Perhaps through this forum we can share positive outcomes and success stories that help inspire other agencies to embrace change and strengthen the relationship between IM and ICT.

Like Murray River Council, we also merged our Information Management and IT teams together around two years ago under one manager, with Customer Experience also forming part of the department. As the manager overseeing the area, I have found it extremely beneficial as the landscape has changed significantly over recent years.

Bringing the functions together has strengthened collaboration and understanding between the teams. Coming from an Information Management background, I have found it particularly valuable in building stronger connections between information, records, data, privacy, cyber security and technology. These areas are increasingly interconnected, and I believe can no longer be viewed in isolation.

The structure has enabled better alignment of priorities, improved communication, greater access and a more holistic approach to delivering services and managing information across Council. It has also helped improve understanding of the challenges and opportunities facing each discipline, we are in the early stages but I am confident we will continue to receive the benefits in the future.

We have also implemented T1 Connect like Katrina, which is helping to capture information in these repositories and use the existing EDRMS to run retention and disposal. The IM team have taken over most of the administration of shared point to create workspaces for teams called HUBs, but they still work within the existing IT team group policies, so we are not duplicating access requirements.