HEADQUARTERS ALLIED RAPID REAC- TION CORPS :
www . arrc . nato . int
The Evolution of Information Management
within HQ ARRC
By SGT RJ Coppack ( GBR ), SGT Dean Houghton ( GBR ),
MAJ Olivier Josserand ( FRA ), HQ ARRC
Information Management ( IM ) for any organization is challenging . The systematic practice to capture all relevant information , then provide that information in the appropriate format at the right time , in order that it can be exploited to improve decision making , requires constant maintenance .
In the summer of 2013 , a new IM team took on the task of managing a 3-Star Headquarters ’ information policies and practices , and supporting the Chief of Staff ’ s objective of improving internal working practices in the headquarters . This task was further compounded by the fact that any organization that rotates personnel also loses corporate knowledge . The IM system must minimize this loss . Poor folder management , unintuitive design templates , and nonstandard file naming conventions were just a few of the problems .
The new IM team saw their relative lack of knowledge of how the Allied Rapid Reaction Corps ( ARRC ) managed its information as an opportunity to evolve the way in which the headquarters handles its IM . With a new team , new ideas came , and their approach was to be an evolution , not a revolution .
The first critical task was to migrate the existing headquarters IM systems from Share Point 07 to Share Point 10 at the end of the summer 2013 – no small feat as the headquarters staff rotation meant over 30 percent of the staff were new members . This was followed by the autumn and winter exercise period . The Chief of Staff gave everyone the framework and guidance for an evolutionary 2014 ARRC IM strategy .
Collaboration across the headquarters and assistance from outside the ARRC were needed to achieve the IM migration goals . A visit to EUROCORPS ( ARRCADE RECORD ) followed by regular meetings with Microsoft UK , and the contribution by the staff , led to the design of two new website based plat-
ARRC conducts command post training
14LAND POWER