20 Jul 2026

IM BLOG: Staying Relevant When Resources Are Tight: The New Reality for Records and Information Management

Records and information management has never been more important, yet many teams are facing growing workloads, increasing complexity and ongoing pressure to prove their value. From AI and Microsoft 365 to workforce capability and governance challenges, the profession is navigating a rapidly changing landscape. This article explores how information management professionals can strengthen their influence, demonstrate value and remain relevant in an environment where visibility, prioritisation and strategic engagement matter more than ever.

Many records and information management teams feel the same quiet pressure.

Workloads are growing. Expectations are rising. Systems are multiplying. Yet resources remain static or are shrinking. At the same time, records and information management is still too often seen as a compliance function rather than a strategic capability.

The result is a profession caught in a difficult tension: expected to manage increasingly complex information environments, while constantly needing to justify its relevance, influence and resourcing.

When maturity stalls - or slips backwards

Across many organisations, information management maturity has plateaued. In some cases, it has gone backwards.

This is not because risks have reduced. In fact, the opposite is true. Information volumes are expanding, digital work is accelerating and expectations around transparency, security and accountability are increasing. Yet progress stalls because records and information management is often excluded from strategic conversations, system decisions and resourcing discussions.

There is a clear pattern: where resourcing is thin, performance suffers. Where information management is treated as an afterthought, issues accumulate quietly until they surface through audits, incidents or public scrutiny.

A growing list of challenges

The challenges facing records and information management today are not minor or isolated. They are systemic.

They include:

the rapid emergence of AI and automated tools
the realities of managing records in collaboration platforms like Microsoft 365
sprawling technology environments with legacy systems that never quite go away
workforce capability gaps across both specialists and general staff
tension between openness, access and information sharing on one hand, and security, privacy and risk on the other
difficulty demonstrating value in ways decision-makers recognise
competition for influence with data, digital and cyber priorities that feel more urgent or exciting

None of these challenges sit neatly within a single policy or tool. They cut across governance, culture, capability and leadership.

AI doesn’t remove recordkeeping risk - it increases it

Artificial intelligence is often framed as a technical or ethical issue but for records and information management it raises very practical questions.

How do organisations ensure AI-generated content is accurate, authentic and reliable as evidence? How are risks, bias and impacts documented? How is the use of AI recorded, assessed and monitored over time?

These are not problems that technology alone can solve. They require governance frameworks, transparency and human oversight - areas where records and information management expertise is essential.

When information professionals are excluded from AI design and governance conversations, organisations risk embedding poor recordkeeping practices at scale.

Collaboration platforms aren’t recordkeeping-neutral

The rise of collaboration tools has transformed how information is created and shared. Email, chats, channels, documents and links blur together into a continuous stream of content.

This creates real challenges:

identifying what constitutes a record
managing metadata as content moves
retaining records and their context over time
navigating platforms controlled primarily by IT
ensuring governance involvement rather than retroactive clean-up

Without early involvement, records and information management teams are left trying to govern systems that were never designed with lifecycle management in mind.

Complexity demands prioritisation, not perfection

Modern organisations run dozens, sometimes hundreds, of systems. Expecting records and information management to govern everything equally is unrealistic.

The more effective approach is value- and risk-based prioritisation.

This means focusing attention on:

the most critical information assets
systems that carry the highest legal, regulatory or reputational risk
decisions that will lock in long-term consequences, such as procurement, configuration, migration and decommissioning

By embedding into governance structures for these decisions, records and information management shifts from reactive to preventative.

Capability is broader than the IM team

Another persistent challenge is workforce capability.

Records and information management knowledge is needed well beyond the specialist team. Executives, system owners, project managers, data specialists, legal and risk staff and everyday users, all influence information outcomes.

Targeted capability building matters. So does tailoring messages to different audiences. What resonates with practitioners will not resonate with executives. What works for system owners will not work for general staff.

Without this layered approach, information management remains siloed and misunderstood.

The visibility problem

Perhaps the hardest challenge is visibility.

Good records and information management often prevents problems rather than creating visible wins. When things go right, nothing happens and that makes value hard to demonstrate.

Assessment, monitoring and reporting are therefore critical. Not as box-ticking exercises, but as tools to:

highlight risks and weaknesses
demonstrate improvement over time
show the impact of focus and resourcing
build evidence-based cases for investment

Without credible evidence, information management struggles to compete for attention and funding.

From voice of doom to part of the solution

Many practitioners recognise the feeling of being perceived as the voice of doom, the team that raises risks, blocks progress or adds complexity.

The shift comes when records and information management positions itself as part of the solution. That means:

building strong relationships with IT, data, cyber, audit, risk and legal teams
aligning messaging to organisational priorities
contributing to major projects rather than reviewing them after the fact
sharing positive outcomes, efficiencies and avoided costs
framing recordkeeping as an enabler of trust, transparency and effective decision-making

Relevance is not claimed. It is demonstrated.

Staying relevant is a strategic choice

Staying relevant and resourced in today’s environment is not about doing more with less indefinitely. It is about making deliberate choices about where to focus effort, how to demonstrate value and where to embed influence.

Records and information management has never been more important. But importance alone does not guarantee visibility, influence or investment.

Those are earned, through prioritisation, evidence, relationships and a clear articulation of how information management supports what organisations are actually trying to achieve.

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