December 11, 2018

The CIP in 2019 - An Introduction

It's now been just over seven years since we introduced the Certified Information Professional (CIP) to the world. What a long, strange, great trip it's been! As always, in the interests of full disclosure, I run the program for AIIM, helped develop the original CIP in 2011, and led the development of the 2016 update. 

CIP v1 was released September 23, 2011 and included 32 major topic areas grouped into 6 high-level domains:

  • Access and Use
  • Capture and Manage
  • Collaborate and Deliver
  • Secure and Preserve
  • Architecture and Systems
  • Plan and Implement

It was available through Prometric test centers until February 2016. 

CIP v2 was officially released on July 1, 2016 and was significantly streamlined into 6 domains that made more sense and better aligned to how we see the information management journey:

  • Creating and Capturing Information
  • Organizing and Categorizing Information
  • Governing Information
  • Automating Information-Intensive Processes
  • Managing Information Throughout the Information Lifecycle
  • Implementing an Information Management Solution

It's been available through Kryterion test centers as well as an online proctored option

Between the two, more than 2,000 people have taken a CIP exam and more than 1,500 have passed. 

Now it's time to start developing CIP v3, which will launch in Summer 2019. 

As I noted in December 2015 in talking about v2, 
A certification requires a lot more than simply writing a bunch of questions and setting up a web page. In order to launch an update to the CIP, here's what needs to happen, in fairly short order. 1. Update the outline and coverage. The original CIP was very...lumpy. Records management and BPM were provided the same weight on the exam as webconferencing and instant messaging. We're also going to align the CIP much more closely to the broad, if somewhat informal, body of knowledge we've already developed at AIIM in the form of our Master Classes and certificate courses.  Once the draft outline is done, we will share it with the broader CIP community for feedback.   
2. Develop new exam questions. We will look to reuse good questions from the existing CIP exam bank where appropriate, but we will also need to revise some of them and will need new questions as well. We're investigating different mechanisms for doing this, but there will be an opportunity for CIPs to participate in item writing and review.   
3. Score the exam. A critical part of the development of a certification is to ensure it is psychometrically valid. This basically means that the exam questions themselves are correct, accurate, not misleading, and comport to industry standards and best practices. This process also leads to the development of the passing score, rather than setting an arbitrary score. There is an art to this; many certifications use the modified Angoff method to set the scoring standards.

And as I failed to note in that post, 

4. Update the program. Eligibility requirements, renewal and reinstatement requirements, everything that is involved with the CIP program beyond the exam will be reviewed and potentially updated. Example: I can share that we will be increasing the CEU requirement to 60 over 3 years, which will bring us into alignment with most other industry certifications. 

All of these steps will require commitment and active participation from the CIP community. Very soon we'll be sending you a couple of emails. One of them will ask whether you are willing and able to participate as a subject matter expert for any of these three steps. Another will reflect the draft exam outline and ask for your feedback on it. 

Importantly, all subject matter experts who participate will need to be active CIPs in good standing. So if you want to be involved, but you've lapsed...you should reach out to me pretty quickly at jwilkins@aiim.org

In short, I'm really, really excited about this update. It's going to take a lot of work, from me and my colleagues at AIIM and from the CIP community. But we have an incredible opportunity to make CIP even better and ensure that it becomes even more relevant and sought-after. 

November 21, 2018

ARMA Solicits Chapter Speakers

ARMA has asked for potential speakers for chapter meetings to register in their master speaker database. I assume they also use it as potential gap-fillers for other ARMA events such as the annual and regional conferences. You can find the registration form at https://www.arma.org/general/custom.asp?page=SpeakerDatabase.

November 8, 2018

Updated schedule for AIIM training courses in 2018

Another in a series of irregular updates about my schedule and AIIM's overall schedule. Here's what we have coming up:

Nov 27-30, CIP Prep Workshop, London, UK
Nov 28-29, private class in Ottawa, ON
Dec 4-7, Modern Records Management Master Class, Silver Spring, MD
Dec 11-14, Modern Records Management Master Class, London, UK
Dec 18-21, private class in Orlando, FL

Courses in the U.S. are taught by me, Jesse Wilkins, CIP, Director of Certification at AIIM. Courses in the UK are taught by Alex Visser, CIP, a long-time AIIM trainer accredited to teach every course AIIM offers.

All courses include interaction with the instructor, the course materials, and access to online course materials for six months. The Modern Records Management Master Classes include access to the online exam.

The CIP Prep Workshops include an exam voucher good for 1 year that can be used to take the exam at any Kryterion testing center world-wide or through Kryterion's online proctored exam (OLP) process. The Denver CIP Prep workshop will include an onsite proctored exam for those students prepared to take it.

All of these courses are also available as self-paced online courses. Self-paced online courses have a lower price, and don't require travel, but require more self-motivation to complete in a timely fashion.

We'll be posting the 2019 course schedule soon.

For more information on any of these courses, or to schedule a private course for your organization, please contact me directly at jwilkins@aiim.org.

November 5, 2018

NYT editorial on blockchain and online voting

Written by Alex Tapscott of the Blockchain Research Institute, it's a great article and argument as far as it goes. But it glosses over a number of key issues/assumptions:

  • That all enfranchised voters can get, and remember how to use, a digital ID
  • That there would be a ready way to move this ID between devices - how many of YOU are using the same phone you used in 2016? 2014? 1988 (my first election)? 
  • That all enfranchised voters have access to such a device in the first place - yes, smart phones are nearly ubiquitous, but that's not the same as 100% access. 
  • That the problem of multiple users/device can be solved - think public libraries, retirement homes, homeless shelters, etc.
  • Most importantly, the author rightly notes that "There is no shortage of politicians in power who benefit from the inaccessibility, insecurity, or lack of public faith in the electoral process. They have every reason to cast doubt upon, or outright oppose, an improvement in the way elections are run." This is an issue on all sides of the political arena. 

October 10, 2018

Updated Sedona Conference guidance

I've been remiss in not posting these as they came out, but all of these look like good resources. Normally I don't link to things that require logins or lead gen-type data, but Sedona is a highly respected and influential organization and I think everyone in information management should be familiar with them and their resources.



October 9, 2018

ARMA and Information Coalition Merge

Full disclosure: I still work at AIIM. As with everything I post here, nothing in this post reflects the views of AIIM management or staff.

After a couple weeks of teasing a big announcement, ARMA delivered a webinar today that provided updates in four key areas. I'm going to take them in a different order from how they were delivered.

1. Student membership. Effective October 22, ARMA will offer $25 Professional memberships to full-time students in a degree-granting program. Lots of questions about this - what about part-time students? What about retirees?

2. The release of the full Information Governance Body of Knowledge, aka iGBOK, sometime between now and the ARMA Live! 2018 conference this month. They noted that PMBOK was a significant factor in moving project management from a role to a profession and they are hoping to follow suit.

3. The app. Most conferences now have an event app that attendees can use to connect with others, share updates, etc. ARMA has taken it one step further and released an ARMA app which includes the event app functionality within it. The events calendar is nice, as is the membership directory; there is a social feed but I wonder how many people will think to post to it as opposed to Twitter, Facebook, etc.

4. The big news: ARMA and Information Coalition have merged. Nick Inglis is now an executive director (read: VP) and owns training, certification, content, and events. Jim Merrifield also joined ARMA's staff in a business development role. As might be expected there were a ton of questions about this on the webinar. Some of the key points:

  • All of IC's assets are now owned by ARMA. 
  • No changes to chapters, since IC doesn't have them, or how ARMA is structured (501(c)(6)). 
  • Paid IC membership will be normalized with ARMA membership in some fashion. 
  • The InfoBOK is owned by ARMA and will remain available, though it might be rebranded so as to avoid confusion with iGBOK and with having two BOKs.
  • The INFO designation may stay or may morph into something else, but it was clarified on the call that it's a certificate program, not a certification. Related, there are no plans to make it one or to release any other certifications in the near future. 
  • Nothing was mentioned about IC's two Fellows, Laurence Hart and Delores Madrid. They don't fit the traditional profile of an ARMA Fellow and probably wouldn't have all the points required to meet the requirements; on the other hand, when AIIM merged with CIIMS, all of those Fellows became Fellows of AIIM. 
  • No decisions made yet about the future of InfoGovCon. Jocelyn Gunter did just post on Twitter that "For now we will have one event location with both brands and spirits represented but both will evolve to meet the needs of the profession."
Oddly, there is no information on either the ARMA home page or the Information Coalition home page about the merger. It's not posted to either one's Twitter feed, either, though IC has retweeted some others' tweets about it. IGGuru.net has a brief post but that's it. 

So that's the announcement, but what does it mean? I'm not sure. ARMA and Info Coalition are so different that it just might work. On the other hand, they're really different and it will be interesting to see how this goes, both from an ARMA HQ/staff perspective and how it is perceived by ARMA's membership. 

Personally and professionally I hope it works out for ARMA and everyone involved in the merger. I think some interesting things could come from it. 

August 30, 2018

IAPP opens CFP for Global Privacy Summit 2019

IAPP has announced it has opened its call for presentations to participate in the IAPP Global Privacy Summit 2019, scheduled for April 30 - May 3 in Washington, DC. Proposals are due by October 21, 2018. More details can be found at https://iapp.org/conference/speak-at-an-iapp-conference/proposals/; that same page also lists open calls for events in London, Toronto, and Singapore.

August 23, 2018

DSF '19 Call for Speakers open

The Document Strategy Forum 2019 Conference has announced its call for speakers for DSF '19, scheduled for May 7-9 in Anaheim, CA. Proposals must be submitted by September 17, 2018. For more details visit https://www.documentstrategyforum.com/page/1363259/call-for-speakers .

August 22, 2018

Harmony Sanderson, Miktysh: SharePoint Metadata: What Is It and Why Is It Important?

#aiim19 Call for Speakers is Now Open

AIIM has announced that the call for speakers is open for the AIIM19 Conference, scheduled for March 26-28, 2019 in San Diego, CA. Interested speakers must submit your proposals no later than September 21, 2018 and will be notified of acceptance or not by November. For more details or to submit, visit https://aiimconference.com/callforspeakers

REtaking the CIP exam

About once a month I get an inquiry about retaking the CIP exam. It usually goes something like this: "I have heard after you take the CIP exam (and pay for it), even if you fail the exam you can re-take the exam at no additional charge for an unlimited number of times until you pass. Are you able to verify this information?"

I'd love to track down the source of this rumor, because it is categorically untrue.

When we developed CIP, one of the things we looked at in the industry was how other certifications addressed retakes. Some offer free retakes, many offer discounted retakes, and many require candidates to pay the full price of the exam for any subsequent attempts. We opted to follow this last approach. So here's how the retake process works.

If a candidate is unsuccessful on the CIP exam, the candidate must pay the full exam fee to retake it. In addition, the candidate must wait 15 calendar days to reschedule. This is a security feature to help ensure that unscrupulous types can't take the exam repeatedly over a short period and memorize and sell our exam questions to "exam cheat" sites.

If the candidate is unsuccessful again, that candidate will have to pay the exam fee again for each subsequent attempt AND wait an additional 90 calendar days to reschedule.

We make some exceptions to this policy on a case-by-case basis. For example, if a significant technical issue occurs that appears to have impacted a candidate's attempt, I may decide to grant a discounted or free exam retake. But this is very much the exception to the rule. In almost all cases, candidates will have to pay the full exam fee for every attempt.

Questions or comments? Please reach out to me directly at jwilkins@aiim.org.

August 1, 2018

CIP digital badging with Accredible

I'm pleased to announce that we're now offering digital badging for CIPs via Accredible. Every active CIP in good standing will be receiving an email on August 1, 2018 with instructions on how to accept the digital badge, how to share via social or email, how to add to your LinkedIn profile, etc.

These digital badges are verifiable, so you can share the link with your employer to confirm your CIP status. They also expire; the CIP has always required certificants to renew every 3 years, but it will be more obvious in this interface. You can also download your CIP certificate from Accredible.

I hope all CIPs will join me in accepting the badge and sharing it proudly. One of the key ways to increase the value of the CIP is to grow the CIP community, and a great way to do that is to promote it so your colleagues and peers see it and can get a sense of how you earned it.

If you have passed the CIP exam, but do not receive this email, first, check your spam and Clutter folders! Next, check the list of active CIPs on the AIIM website. We update this every two weeks, so if you just got the CIP, it might not be there. But if it's been more than 3 years since you got the CIP, you may have lapsed. I can help you with reinstatement - ping me at jwilkins@aiim.org.

Again, we hope that this is one more way that we can provide value to you as a CIP. If you have any questions, need a name change, etc. please contact me directly at jwilkins@aiim.org.

July 31, 2018

Taking the Online Proctored (OLP) CIP Exam

Extremely short version of this post: The online proctored exam is a proctored exam. Don't do anything during the exam that you wouldn't do at a test center.

Update 5/10/2019: We've had a fair share of candidates get their exams suspended for reading questions out loud to themselves. This is a big exam security issue as we don't know whether someone else might be just out of sight capturing those questions. So don't read the questions to yourself - don't even mouth them silently - or your exam will be suspended. If you do get suspended, contact me at jwilkins@aiim.org.

As I mentioned in a previous post, CIP candidates now have the option of taking the CIP exam using an online proctored (OLP) model. I won't rehash the details of that here; instead, I want to provide some guidance for the actual exam experience.

Preparing your computer for the exam
Once you register for the OLP exam, you have the option to set up your biometric profile and install the Kryterion Sentinel software. The biometric profile consists of taking a picture of you, and a keystroke biometric exercise.

We strongly recommend that you do this at least one day in advance - and so does the registration email you receive from Kryterion. This way, if you have any technical issues such as your webcam or microphone not being compatible, or your computer being too locked down to install the Sentinel software, you can identify and resolve them prior to the scheduled exam.

Kryterion has a guide for preparing for your exam, which you can find at https://www.kryteriononline.com/sites/default/files/docs/PreparingForYourExam.pdf. You can also check your technical readiness at http://test.kryteriononline.com/webcam-checker/.

The day of the exam
The exam is a scheduled exam, just like the one you'd take at a test center. If you are late or miss your scheduled start time, you may have to pay a rescheduling fee of $50, or even pay for a new exam fee in certain cases.

If you haven't already installed Sentinel and done your biometric profile, you should do this well in advance of your scheduled test time so you don't run into any issues at the scheduled time and need to reschedule (and pay the rescheduling fee).

At the time of your scheduled appointment, log into http://www.webassessor.com/aiim/index.html and you should see a screen that looks like this:


If you don't see the yellow Launch button, or you just see a question mark, it may be because it's too early. The launch window is open from 10 minutes before your appointment to 20 minutes after for a total of a 30-minute window for you to start the exam.

During the exam
Again, this is a proctored exam. A Kryterion proctor is watching through your webcam, and listening through your microphone, while you take the exam. The proctors are trained to look for behaviors which could tend to compromise the exam. Some of these result in warnings and potentially the suspension of your exam, while others result in immediate termination. Most of these are self-explanatory.

Warning behaviors include:

  • Camera out of position or out of focus. This can also occur if you lean in too close to the camera. 
  • Audio problem
  • Talking, non-test related. If someone yells a question at you about, say, dinner, or the Wilkins case, you'll get a warning. If it keeps happening your exam will be suspended. 
  • Poor lighting
  • Invalid keystroke. Specifically, this is keystrokes like , , , and the like. 
  • Video signal problem
  • Multiple people in view. If your child wanders into view, or a coworker, you'll get a warning (and of course they will have to leave the area). 
  • Inappropriate environment
  • Reading exam aloud. Don't do it. Don't even mouth the questions to yourself. 
  • Leaning out of view. True story: when I took the OLP exam to see for myself, I stared out into space for a few seconds. I got a warning. Don't do it. 
All of these can lead to a suspension of the exam. Most will give you a warning first. If your exam is suspended, contact me or AIIM (jwilkins@aiim.org, certification@aiim.org) and we can get you un-suspended depending on the circumstances. Typically only available between 8 am and 8 pm Eastern time. 
Termination behaviors include: 

  • Leaving the area
  • Unauthorized test aid usage
  • Talking about the exam
  • Test item theft
Termination behaviors will result in the immediate termination of your exam. These are behaviors that tend to compromise the security of the exam and cause damage to the CIP program as a whole. At our discretion, we may: 
  • Let you retake the test, subject to a rescheduling fee
  • Let you retake the test, but make you pay the full fee to offset the time we spend investigating the behavior
  • Prohibit you from retaking the test for some time - including permanently.
Most of this boils down to: 
  1. Schedule the exam when it's convenient and keep the appointment. 
  2. At the appointed test time, make sure you've used the bathroom, you have a 2-hour window with no interruptions, and you're not in view or audio of anyone else. 
  3. Once you start the test, don't talk/mouth, keep your eyes on the screen, don't try to write anything down, and focus on the questions. If you're prepared, you'll do well. 
Please feel free to contact me at jwilkins@aiim.org if you have any questions about the online proctored exam process. Good luck!

July 19, 2018

July 12, 2018

CIP exam now available in online proctored format

Update: I've moved this blog post to AIIM's Digital Landfill blog so that it gets much more traction. The short version: You can take the CIP exam in an online proctored format. You have to meet Kryterion's technical requirements including a webcam and microphone, but it's the same proctoring process and the same cost.

To sign up for a proctored exam, go to https://www.webassessor.com/aiim/index.html and select the Online option. Ping me at jwilkins@aiim.org with any questions.

July 3, 2018

New podcast interview with 3 AIIM CIPs

Kevin Craine has just posted his latest AIIM on Air podcast, featuring interviews with 3 CIPs: Andrew Pery, Ed Steenhoek, and Gerry Guilbeault. You can find the podcast episode at http://info.aiim.org/digital-landfill/podcast-what-can-certification-do-for-my-career-a-look-at-the-cip-program. To access the entire podcast series, visit https://www.aiim.org/Resources/Presentations-Podcasts/Presentations-List-Page.

July 2, 2018

CIP Today - June 2018

Editor's Note
Ah, summertime. The AIIM18 conference has come and gone - and was an amazing success. Our thoughts turn to vacation, recreation, and a chance to recharge.

For my part, I'm thinking about CIP. Yes, I'm a geek. But as a CIP myself, I want to make sure that it is relevant to you, your colleagues, and your employer. That means it's time to start thinking about CIP v3, which we want to go live in Summer 2019.

It means it's time to think more about how CIPs can benefit even more from the AIIM conference, which returns to San Diego next March.

And it means it's time to update the CIP value proposition so we can make sure the value CIP provides can be communicated effectively. How can we make the website more useful to candidates as well as to CIPs? What types of statistics can we develop for different audiences - say, the vendor community, or veterans, or particular industry verticals?

I'd welcome your thoughts on these questions at jwilkins@aiim.org.

Sincerely,
Jesse Wilkins, CIP
Director, Certification
AIIM

Announcements

New CIP Prep Course Model

We're looking at a new way to provide CIP Prep training. We're still working out some of the details, but it will be a combination of self-paced materials that cover the exam plus a series of instructor-led online training sessions. Those sessions will be focused on exercises and activities to allow students to apply what they've learned. The first course is expected to be delivered in October 2018 - watch this space for details.

CIP Webinar

We're hosting a webinar on July 12 at 11:00 Eastern that will outline the CIP value proposition and the mechanics of how to become a CIP. If you're already a CIP you will likely know the things we're going to cover, but please consider forwarding this to others in your organization who are interested or unsure.

CIP CEUs

We've added CIP credits to all of our events, training courses etc. We're also working on adding a list of events that have been preapproved for CIP CEUs to the website. In the meantime, if you're going to an event or you're an event producer, we'd love to preapprove your events as well. You can submit events for preapproval using our web form or by sending an email to jwilkins@aiim.org.

CIPs represent at AIIM18

At the inaugural CIP luncheon, during AIIM18, we announced a few stats we're pretty proud of:

  • 83 attendees took the CIP practice exam in the conference app
  • 33 candidates became CIPs at the onsite proctored exam
  • 116 CIPs were in attendance at AIIM18, including 18 speakers and 14 AIIM Board or staff members
  • More than 70 CIPs showed up for the annual photo
  • Our 1,500th CIP passed the exam at conference!

Next year we want to make AIIM19 even more relevant to CIPs. So our question to you: What else would you like to see at conference that would make it a compelling, no-brainer, "Shut up and take my money!" kind of event for you? Ping me at jwilkins@aiim.org.

New Emerging Technologies course

We're pleased to announce the availability of a new online course on emerging technologies. The course provides a thorough introduction to artificial intelligence and machine learning; the cloud; blockchain; and robotic process automation. We previewed this course at AIIM18, but it is now live and valid for 4.0 CIP CEUs if you take the entire course.

AIIM19 - Save the Date!

As noted above, AIIM18 was an enormous success, particularly for all the CIPs represented. We'd love to see you again in San Diego next year, and if you missed San Antonio, you really don't want to miss San Diego. AIIM19 is scheduled for March 26-28, 2019 in San Diego, CA. We plan to make AIIM19 even better than the amazing AIIM18 experience! The conference website is once again at www.aiimconference.com. Updates will start taking place in July, with information on early bird registration rates, precons, etc. Hope to see you there. :)

Upcoming CEU Opportunities

Just a reminder that all CIPs have to complete 45 hours of continuing education every three years in order to remain certified. Here are some upcoming AIIM events you might wish to consider:



For a complete and current list including locations, details, and registration, click here. All AIIM courses are available in an online, self-paced format as well. CEUs vary by the length of the course - visit http://aiim.org/training for details.

AIIM's webinars are generally worth 1.0 CEU each. Here's a list of the webinars we have coming up.

Private Courses

We also offer private courses. These can be the standard course, or can include modules from different courses or even customization including specific legal requirements or even vendor content. You provide the venue and the A/V, we provide the materials and an experienced and accredited trainer. We generally charge a flat per-day fee plus travel expenses, so if you have more than about 6 people, you can save money with this model as well as ensure that the content exactly meets your needs. The best part? These courses also count for CIP CEUs. You can find more information on AIIM's Private Courses here or you can contact me at jwilkins@aiim.org.

Share Your Story

As a CIP, I want to know what you're doing and how you're doing it. If you have a story to share, an article you think would be of interest to other CIPs, or even just want to tell your CIP story, send me a note at jwilkins@aiim.org. I can help you write it if needed, and we'll make sure it gets in the next newsletter.

Key POCs

You have questions? We have answers. Here's where to get AIIM-related information:

  • For questions about your CIP status, CEU status, or general questions about CIP - Me! jwilkins@aiim.org
  • For questions about AIIM training - Maureen Hearn, mhearn@aiim.org
To register for AIIM training:
Oscar Berg, CMSWire: The Digital Workplace Is Not an IT Project

June 18, 2018

Benjamin Niaulin and Christian Buckley on the Sharegate blog, 10 Things to Think About When Moving to Office 365. Spoiler: Most of them aren't really tech issues.

May 25, 2018

Blockchain vs. GDPR

I've seen a number of articles pop up on Twitter today noting that there is, at least on the surface, some tension between GDPR and particularly the "right to be forgotten" and blockchain, which is based on immutability and decentralization. Here are some examples; Googling "blockchain GDPR" will find you a ton more.

Legaltech News: Why Blockchain Poses an Unusual Challenge for GDPR Compliance
The Ledger: The Blockchain-GDPR Paradox
Computerworld: Will blockchain run afoul of GDPR? (Yes and no)
IAPP: Blockchain technology is on a collision course with EU privacy law

It's a truism that the law cannot keep up with technology, but it will be fascinating to see how this plays out. Aside: The cynic in me is waiting for the first press release announcing a blockchain-based GDPR-compliant something-or-other solution that stores personal data in the blockchain.

April 19, 2018

Misconceptions about the CIP

Recently I've had a number of people ask a variety of questions about how one goes about getting the CIP. I thought I'd answer those questions here in the interest of clearing up any uncertainty.

The CIP is a formal certification. There are many, many differences between a certificate program, such as AIIM's training programs, and a formal certification. This is a much longer discussion beyond the scope of this post, but there is one that directly applies.

Many certificate programs that offer an assessment make it available in a non-proctored, and frequently online, format. Certification program assessments are proctored as a rule, and while there are a number of ways to conduct the assessment, there is nevertheless a more formalized structure to them.

The only way to get the CIP is to pass the formal certification exam. There are two ways we deliver the exam. First, candidates can schedule an exam at any Kryterion test center around the world. On the appointed date/time, the candidate appears, is placed into an exam station, and takes the exam, by him or herself, and with no additional references or study aids.

Second, AIIM can offer the CIP exam in an onsite proctored model. A group of people takes the exam in the same room, often at the end of an onsite CIP Prep Workshop, and we also do this at the annual AIIM conference. A human proctor is in the room the entire time to make sure individual candidates complete only their own exam and do not attempt to assist or influence any other candidates' exams.

But that's it. Those are the only two ways to earn the CIP certification and designation. The only exception to this in the history of the CIP program was that we made the decision when CIP was launched to grandfather in about 40 subject matter experts that wrote the initial exam. This is not uncommon - why would you test people on the exam you just trusted them to write? But this only happened for the first CIP exam; when we updated it in 2016, we used only CIPs who had passed the original exam to conduct the update. When we update it again in 2019 we will use the same process.

Common questions/misconceptions about CIP
So here are some of the most common questions I've gotten, and my responses to them.

  • AIIM can just "give" people the CIP. Categorically not true. A very, very small number of AIIM staff have access to the CIP exam platform and it has a very detailed audit trail, with every candidate's attempts and even every question and response for every candidate. We can't fake it - and wouldn't if we could. Even the AIIM staff that have earned the CIP did it in one of those two ways - by going to a Kryterion test center, or by sitting through an onsite proctored exam. Same thing with those on the AIIM Board of Directors that have earned the CIP. 
  • Getting the ERM Master can get you the CIP. There was some confusion around the end of 2015, when there was some concern about the future of CIP. AIIM posted that the CIP had been retired and that all CIPs would be converted to ERM Masters or another AIIM certificate designation of their choice. That decision was rescinded and CIP was updated in 2016, but the misconception still remains - but this is the exact opposite of the misconception.
  • Being a CRM or passing Part 5 can get you the CIP. Similarly, AIIM and the ICRM have a partnership wherein CRM candidates that complete the ERM Master Class can submit that in lieu of their Part 5 exam. So there may be some confusion that ERMM leads to, or grants, CIP - it doesn't, it just counts as 1 of the 6 exams required to receive the CRM. At some future date there might be some reciprocity between CIP and the CRA/CRM, but not at present. 
  • You have to be an AIIM member to get, or maintain, the CIP. Nope - lots of people have earned the CIP who barely know who AIIM is, but thought that the CIP would provide value (they're right!). And there are a ton of benefits to AIIM membership - I think highly enough of them that I maintain my paid membership despite having been on AIIM's staff for over 7 years. But there is no connection between the two other than discounts on the workshop, the exam, and renewal fees. 
  • You have to take the AIIM CIP Prep Course to get the CIP - or - Taking the CIP Prep Course will give you the CIP. Nope and nope. While we offer the CIP prep course, and we'd love to have you take it as part of your preparation, it is absolutely not required. If you do take the course, you need to know that, while it covers everything on the exam, we don't teach to the exam. Rather, we teach the concepts that the exam covers. You also need to know that there's no guarantee that taking the course will ensure you pass the exam. While our results are pretty good historically, ultimately the course is the course and the exam is the exam. 
  • You can take the CIP online. While the Kryterion test platform, Webassessor, is technically delivered through the Web, this is not an online exam in the way that certificate programs often are. You can only access the exam by having it launched by a proctor, either at a Kryterion test center or at an AIIM-delivered onsite proctored exam. 
  • The CIP doesn't expire. False - you have to maintain the CIP every three years, either by completing continuing education or by retesting. Once that date passes, your CIP is lapsed and you should not use or claim it anymore unless you reinstate

Now, here's the Reader's Digest version: The only way to get the CIP is to take a proctored exam. Anyone who has told you otherwise is flat-out wrong - at best.

I welcome any additional questions, thoughts, concerns, or assertions to the contrary at jwilkins@aiim.org.

April 17, 2018

CIP Today Newsletter - March 2018

We're less than three weeks away from The AIIM Conference 2018 in San Antonio, TX and I'm really excited about the agenda this year. We're putting extra focus on the CIP program and all of you as individual CIPs during the event. Here are just some of the highlights:

  • 12.5 CIP CEUs for conference, and 6.5 more if you attend a precon workshop
  • The CIP precon on April 10
  • The CIP exam on April 11
  • The exclusive CIP-only luncheon on April 11, right after the exam. This is also where you will get your exclusive CIP T-shirt!
  • The annual CIP photo
  • Lots of great speakers, many of whom are CIPs as well
  • And lots of opportunities to network with your fellow CIPs and the other attendees.

With the event just around the corner, you need to act soon if you're going to join us in San Antonio. We'd love to have you. Visit http://www.aiimconference.com for more details.

I hope that you will find this newsletter valuable, and I welcome your thoughts, comments, and submissions at jwilkins@aiim.org.

Sincerely,
Jesse Wilkins, CIP
Director, Professional Development
AIIM

We're Looking For A Few Good...Stories!

One of the things that helps to build the value of CIP is to share stories and case studies. I'm looking for a few good examples of what the CIP has meant to you and your organization. For example, one CIP recently shared with us that "Our technology world is rapidly changing, and companies are requiring that our skills span multiple dimensions. To compliment my technical skill set, the AIIM Certified Information Professional was my certification of choice. Due to its high recognition in the EIM world, it helped me launch my career. I'm proud to say I have accepted a great opportunity with a great company." That's pretty powerful.

So how has CIP helped you - have you gotten a promotion, a raise, or a new job or new responsibilities? If you're a solution provider or consultant, has it helped you develop new business? We'd like to share your name and company if at all possible; if your company isn't willing to do so, we can refer to it generally, e.g. "A large North American bank". But the more of these stories, and interviews, and case studies we can get, the greater the impact on the CIP program as a whole. Please reach out to me at jwilkins@aiim.org if you are interested.

Announcements

CIP Reinstatement:
As with other formal certifications, in order to maintain your CIP status, you must either retest every three years or complete 45 hours of continuing education credits. But sometimes stuff comes up, or you forget the renewal date, and you end up letting your status lapse. Until now the only way to reinstate your CIP status was to retake the exam.

After a lot of research and discussion, both internally and with a few current (and former!) CIPs, we've developed a reinstatement process that we think is fair, that underscores the value of the CIP, and that stresses the importance of maintaining the CIP over time. I wrote about it at length, but here are the highlights:

  • You must reinstate within one (1) calendar year of lapsing.
  • You must submit 45 CEUs and pay the reinstatement fee of $200.
Because we've just introduced the reinstatement program, we are allowing CIPs to reinstate regardless of how long it's been. This is a one-time grace period; in order to take advantage of this you must reinstate by April 10, 2018. Once that date passes, you will have to reinstate within one calendar year or else retake the exam.

If you're not sure whether your status is still current or not, we maintain the updated list of active CIPs at http://www.aiim.org/Education-Section/CIPs-List. If your name is not on the list, your status has lapsed. If you think your name was removed from the list in error, please contact me directly at jwilkins@aiim.org and I'll investigate.

New Modern Records Management Master Class:
In February, we completed the development and launch of the Modern Records Management Master Class. This is complementary to, and includes, the MRM Specialist content we announced in the previous newsletter.

The course differs substantially from the ERM course in three main areas. First, we've removed a lot of the "RM 101"-type content. That content will be made available at some point, probably as a quick study course. Second, we've added a ton of in-depth content on digital recordkeeping including specific processes for how to conduct a systems and information inventory and how to conduct a file share cleanup. And most importantly, every module includes some focus on records management as a business enabler, with content that will help records managers get a seat at the table by showing how effective records management supports the goals of the organization.

The MRM Master Class is worth 26.0 CIP CEUs; for students who have already taken the MRM Specialist, you can elect to take just the Master content at a discount and earn 13.0 CEUs.

More information about this course is available at http://www.aiim.org/Education-Section/Deep-Dives/Deep-Dive-MRM.

You can find more information about all of our courses, all of which are approved for CEUs, at http://www.aiim.org/training.

The AIIM Community:
If you haven't been to the AIIM Community recently, you don't know what you're missing! Every day brings new questions and discussions that could be directly relevant to what you're doing. The Community includes an Open Forum, groups for individual chapters, and five specialist interest groups:

  • ECM - Peer to Peer Advice
  • GDPR - Peer to Peer Advice
  • U.S. Federal Government
  • Oil & Gas
  • Women in Information Management

Anyone can read the posts, but you have to be a member to post something yourself. This is just one of the great benefits of being an AIIM member. The Community is available at http://community.aiim.org.

From the CIP:

Five Things that Well Written IM/IT Policies Avoid
by Lewis Eisen, CIP
Well-written administrative policies are clear, concise, and respectful to the people they govern. IM/IT policies are no exception.

The written policies of many organizations fall far short of that goal, however. They are overly long, ambiguous or confusing, and written as if angry parents were talking to bad children. It should come as no surprise in those cases that the organization spends an inordinate amount of time dealing with compliance problems.

There are five things that well written IM/IT policies avoid. [Continue reading.]

Why Do We Need Standards?
by Betsy Fanning, CIP
Standards reduce risks the organization may have when implementing technologies because they are developed by subject experts who collaborate to document the best way to implement or utilize a technology or improve a process. When you use a standard, you can be certain it has been tested which will provide a high level of reliability in its use. [Continue reading.]

CIP, the Lingua Franca of ECM
by Marko Silanpaa, CIP
To me, one the biggest value of the Certified Information Professional program is as common language for Enterprise Content Management. The lack of this common vocabulary easily costs tens of thousands of dollars to vendors and can add months to the vendor selection cycle for end users. [Continue reading.]

Share Your Story
As a CIP, I want to know what you're doing and how you're doing it. If you have a story to share, an article you think would be of interest to other CIPs, or even just want to tell your CIP story, send me a note at jwilkins@aiim.org. I can help you write it if needed, and we'll make sure it gets in the next newsletter.

Upcoming CEU Opportunities
Just a reminder that all CIPs have to complete 45 hours of continuing education every three years in order to remain certified. Here are some upcoming AIIM events you might wish to consider:


And non-AIIM events are OK too, as long as they are educational in nature and address at least one topic on the CIP. Vendor demos/presentations/sessions as well. Questions? Ping me at jwilkins@aiim.org.

Key POCs

You have questions? We have answers. Here's where to get AIIM-related information:

For questions about your CIP status, CEU status, or general questions about CIP - Me! jwilkins@aiim.org

For questions about AIIM training - Maureen Hearn, mhearn@aiim.org

To register for AIIM training:

US/areas outside of Europe: Michelle Clark, mturner@aiim.org
Europe: Angela Hymas, ahymas@aiim.org
For questions about Professional membership – Jessica Lombardo, jlombardo@aiim.org

March 1, 2018

Laurence Hart, CMSWire: What Data Will You Feed Your Artificial Intelligence?

ARMA IGBOK Available

ARMA has announced that the first release of the Information Governance Body of Knowledge, IGBOK: The Foundation, is now generally available. It is free for members and $105 for non-members. Details and access to the IGBOK are available at http://www.arma.org/?page=IGBOK.

February 21, 2018

ARMA Canada releases Winter 2018 edition of Sargesse. Lots of good stuff in this newsletter, particularly a lengthy treatment of CAN/CGSB 72.34-2017, Electronic Records as Documentary Evidence.

February 14, 2018

InfoGov18 Call for Speakers

Information Coalition has opened its call for speakers for InfoGov18, scheduled for Sept 25-28, 2018 in Providence, RI. The deadline to submit is March 31, 2018. More details and the submission form can be found at https://www.infogovcon.com/presenters/.

February 6, 2018

New CIP Reinstatement Program

The CIP has been active now for more than six years. In that time we've seen nearly 1,500 people pass the exam and every year has seen stronger growth than the year before.

Like all formal certifications, the CIP requires continuing education to maintain it. Technology changes fast, and so do processes and best practices, and the CIP needs to keep up with those changes.

But sometimes life happens. Things come up. CIPs decide not to renew for whatever reason...and then change their minds. Sometimes it's as simple as overlooking the need for recertification - or forgetting the exact date by which it needs to be completed.

For our part, we weren't as helpful as we could have been in ensuring that all CIPs were fully aware of the need to recertify and the deadlines for doing so. We recognized this last year and introduced automated workflows that send periodic reminders to CIPs about renewing. You should be getting these about every 6 months, until you have 6 months left, at which point we start getting serious with the nagging.

But that still leaves a question - what about everyone who lapsed, for whatever reason, and how do they reinstate their CIP status? One answer is to take the test again. But that's expensive, and requires you to go to a test center, and schedule around it, and some people have test anxiety, etc.

So we started thinking about the possibility of reinstatement. We did some research and found that most certifications, including some of the most highly-recognized and -valued certifications like the Project Management Institute's PMP and the International Association of Privacy Professionals' CIPP, offer a reinstatement process. The details vary, but almost all of them recognize that sometimes stuff happens.

After a lot of research and discussion, both internally and with a few current (and former!) CIPs, we've developed a reinstatement process that we think is fair, that underscores the value of the CIP, and that stresses the importance of maintaining the CIP over time. Here are the details, which are also available on the CIP reinstatement page at (link).

1. You can only reinstate within one (1) year of the expiration of your CIP status. Beyond that, you will have to take the then-current exam at the then-current fee.

2. You have to submit 45 hours of continuing education credits. This is the same as for maintaining your CIP. As we note in my CEU blog post, these can be AIIM events and webinars, or ARMA, or IAPP, or ACEDS, or any other sponsor, or even vendor events provided they are a) educational and b) relate to a specific CIP topic or to the broader field of information management.

3. You have to pay a one-time reinstatement fee of $200. This includes the maintenance fee for the new 3-year period, which is currently $135 for AIIM Professional Members and $150 for non-members.

4. Once you submit the reinstatement fee and CEUs, we'll process the reinstatement application. Assuming everything is good, you'll once again be a CIP in good standing, subject to current maintenance requirements.Your new renewal date will be three (3) years from the date of reinstatement.

As part of the launch of this reinstatement process, we are doing a 1-time reinstatement period good for ANY lapsed CIPs all the way back to 2011. To take advantage of this you MUST reinstate by April 10, 2018. Any CIPs lapsed after that date will be limited to 1 calendar year, after which you will have to take the test again in order to reinstate your CIP status.

We hope that this reinstatement process will encourage lapsed CIPs to come back into the fold. We have a lot of exciting stuff happening for the CIP program in 2018 and we want to encourage everyone who's passed the CIP exam to be a part of it.

You can find the forms and payment information at http://www.aiim.org/Education-Section/CIP/CIP-Reinstatement-from-lapsed.

If you have any thoughts or questions, please contact me directly at jwilkins@aiim.org.

February 2, 2018

ARMA Live! 2018 Call for Speakers Open

ARMA has announced its call for speakers for ARMA Live! 2018, scheduled for Oct 22-24 in Anaheim, CA. Proposals must be submitted by Mar 2, 2018. Speakers do not get a complimentary registration, but do receive a $500 discount to the conference registration fee.

More information on the submission process is available at
http://www.arma.org/default.asp?page=CallforProposals.

Updated speaking/teaching schedule - Feb-Jun 2018

Here's a snapshot of what I'm up to through Q2 2018.

Feb 27 - Mar 2: public CIP Prep workshop in Silver Spring, MD

Mar 5-9: potential private Modern Records Management courses in Canada (TBC)
Mar 20-23: ECM Master Class in Silver Spring, MD

April 10-13: AIIM18 conference, San Antonio, TX
April 24: ARMA Mile Hi Denver Spring Seminar, Denver, CO

May 2: ARMA Madison Spring Seminar, Madison, WI
May 6-9: The MER 2018 Annual Conference, Chicago, IL
May 15-18: Modern Records Management Master Class in Silver Spring, MD

Jun 5-8: BPM Master Class in Silver Spring, MD
Jun 19-22: Implementing Information Management on SharePoint Master Class in Denver, CO

For details on any of these, visit the links or ping me at jwilkins13@gmail.com.


January 29, 2018

January 2, 2018

Activity 1/2: 2.08 mile walk, 38:30 elapsed time.
Joe Shepley, Doculabs: All Content Is Not Created Equal

CIP Today Newsletter - Dec 2017

Originally sent to CIPs in December 2017.

Introduction:
As 2017 comes to a close I want to thank each and every one of you for your commitment to professional development and the CIP program. This has been the best year for the CIP since we started this journey in 2011, and I believe 2018 will be even better. We have lots of interesting things happening in 2018, including:

  • Celebrating our CIPs at AIIM18
  • Development of a CIP-only group on our AIIM Community platform
  • Revision of the CIP study guide
  • Development of a 100-question sample exam
  • A job task analysis in preparation for CIP v3 in 2019
  • Focus on getting CIP into university IM/IT/business programs

And much more! For the latest CIP news, I invite you to follow @AIIM_CIP on Twitter

I hope that you will find this newsletter valuable, and I welcome your thoughts, comments, and submissions at jwilkins@aiim.org.

Focus on AIIM18:
I'd like to invite you to attend the AIIM18 conference, scheduled for April 10-13, 2018 in San Antonio, TX. There are a ton of activities that should be of interest to CIPs, including:

  • CEUs! The conference will be worth 12.5 CEUs for the conference and another 6.5 if you take one of the precon workshops. And we're happy to see so many CIPs presenting, too!
  • World-class networking throughout the conference. This is always one of the highlights of the annual conference; in fact, as an industry guy and Professional member myself, this is the best part of conference for me. You are the thought leaders and visionaries in the industry - please consider sharing your knowledge and expertise with other AIIM18 attendees. 
  • A CIP-only networking lunch on Wednesday, April 11
  • The annual CIP group photo
  • The exclusive CIP T-shirt (image). You voted on it, we're making it, we hope to see a ton of them in the group photo!
  • And more! For more information visit http://www.aiimconference.com/

Announcements: 

CIP Certification Maintenance:
We've made some quality of life chances to certification maintenance. If you're a CIP, you can now submit your CEUs directly through a web-based form. This form only takes one activity at a time, though, so you'll need to submit another form for each event you do. As with the current PDF form, if it's an AIIM event - webinar, conference, training course - simply report the activity. If it's from a chapter event or another event producer (ARMA, MER, PMI, etc.) you will need to attach some sort of documentation such as a receipt, certificate of attendance, or agenda. Vendor events counts too - the only restrictions are that the event has to be educational and relate in some manner to the CIP. I wrote a blog post about the recertification process here: http://informata.blogspot.com/2016/07/maintaining-your-cip-certification.html
The CEU reporting form is live and available at https://gzclelland.wufoo.com/forms/zgi0j8s0t2bdj3/

You can pay the renewal fees online at
http://www.aiim.org/Education-Section/CIP/CIP-Renewal-Payment. Note that, while this is live, it can only accept full payments, i.e. $75/$150 through the end of the year. If you have already paid a portion of your renewal fee, please contact me at jwilkins@aiim.org and we'll get you out an invoice for the balance due.

We're also introducing a new automated process to send out periodic reminders to CIPs that you need to complete the recertification process. We don't want to spam you, but we do want you to be able to complete your recertification in a timely and non-stressful manner, so we're going to send a reminder every 6 months or so, more frequently as your renewal date nears.

We've gotten a couple of questions about whether other certifications are eligible for CEUs. Any prep courses, studying, etc. that you did for a certification is eligible provided it aligns to the overall CIP and provided that you document it. However, the actual exams themselves - the time spent actually taking e.g. the CIPP/US exam or one or more CRM exams- are not eligible.

We also generally don't award CEUs for work product because we don't really have any way to determine the amount of work involved or what your contribution was. If it's a presentation, paper, etc. we can give credits for those, but not for holding project team meetings and the like.

Preapproval for CIP CEUs:
In addition, if you're an event producer and want to request credits for your event, we have a form available for that as well. The form asks for basic information: point of contact, event name, date, website, # credits requested, and includes a button to upload an agenda. We turn these around pretty quickly. The form is live and available at https://gzclelland.wufoo.com/forms/z13lxs091657r7s/

Changes to Fees & Payment Process Effective January 2018:
We've had more than a few former CIPs complain that they were decertified because they didn't know the process, weren't reminded, etc. To address that and hopefully streamline the overall process we're making a number of changes. We already noted the email reminders above; we're also changing the payment process.

  1. Effective January 2018, the recertification fee will change from annual payments to a single payment during the three-year term. You can pay that fee at any time, but you must pay it within the 3-year anniversary of your certification date. 
  2. We're also increasing the member renewal fee to $135. This brings the pricing in line with other AIIM member discount rates and is still a bargain compared to the cost (and stress!) of taking the CIP test again. The non-member rate will remain unchanged. So if you're a professional member (and why wouldn't you be?), if you pay whatever balance is due on your CIP renewal by the end of this calendar year, you'll be paying the current rate. If you wait until 2018, you'll have to pay $135 less whatever you've paid this cycle. Please contact me at jwilkins@aiim.org with any questions. 

New SharePoint Course:
In November we introduced a new SharePoint course, "Implementing Information Management on SharePoint and Office 365". Developed by 15-time Microsoft MVP Rob Bogue, this AIIM Master Class is a unique one for us because it includes 23 hands-on labs that will have students setting up their own SharePoint environment and actually using it to create the things discussed in the class.

It's also a bit different because it's different CEUs for the online vs. the instructor-led courses. The actual recorded content, including demos, is 10 hours or 10 CEUs for the online, since we have no way of knowing whether you actually complete the labs or not. The instructor-led course is worth 26.0 CEUs as per our other Master classes.

More information about this course is available at http://www.aiim.org/Education-Section/Deep-Dives/Deep-Dive-IIM-SP.

New Modern Records Management Course: 
Just this month we also introduced a new Modern Records Management Specialist course. This course is intended to be a replacement for our existing ERM course once the Master Class component is delivered in February 2018.

The course differs substantially from the ERM course in three main areas. First, we've removed a lot of the "RM 101"-type content. That content will be made available at some point, probably as a quick study course. Second, we've added a ton of in-depth content on digital recordkeeping including specific processes for how to conduct a systems and information inventory and how to conduct a file share cleanup. And most importantly, every module includes some focus on records management as a business enabler, with content that will help records managers get a seat at the table by showing how effective records management supports the goals of the organization.

As with our other Specialist courses, this course is worth 13.0 CIP CEUs. More information about this course is available at http://www.aiim.org/Education-Section/Deep-Dives/Deep-Dive-MRM.

Share Your Story:
As a CIP, I want to know what you're doing and how you're doing it. If you have a story to share, an article you think would be of interest to other CIPs, or even just want to tell your CIP story, send me a note at jwilkins@aiim.org. I can help you write it if needed, and we'll make sure it gets in the next newsletter.

Upcoming CEU opportunities:
Just a reminder that all CIPs have to complete 45 hours of continuing education every three years in order to remain certified. Here are some upcoming AIIM events you might wish to consider:

  • AIIM18, April 10-13, 2018, San Antonio, 12.5 credits, http://www.aiimconference.com/
  • AIIM18 preconference workshops, April 10, 2018, San Antonio, 6.5 credits, http://www.aiimconference.com/
  • March 6-9: CIPP Privacy course, Silver Spring, MD, 13.0 or 26.0 credits
  • March 13-16: BPM Master Class, Amsterdam, 13.0 or 26.0 credits
  • March 20-23: ECM Master Class, Silver Spring, MD, 13.0 or 26.0 credits
  • April 10-13: ECM Master Class, Amsterdam, 13.0 or 26.0 credits
  • April 24-27: MRM Master Class, Toronto, ON, 13.0 or 26.0 credits
  • Upcoming AIIM Webinars: http://www.aiim.org/Resources/Webinars/Webinars-List-Page


And non-AIIM events are OK too, as long as they are educational in nature and address at least one topic on the CIP. Vendor demos/presentations/sessions as well. Questions? Ping me at jwilkins@aiim.org.

Key POCs:
You have questions? We have answers. Here's where to get AIIM-related information:

January 1, 2018