[As is the case with our 8 things series, the opinions expressed in the 5 myths guest columns are those of the guest contributor and not necessarily mine or AIIM's. This guest post is by Shiraz Ahmed, CEO of ITAZ Technologies. As usual, contra perspectives welcome.] Isn’t it ironic that with advancing technology, we are quick to spend on ‘cool’ gadgets for personal use though they do not yield any financial return in most cases; but we are reluctant to invest in technology that is proven to yield a return in the short-to-medium term? This also holds true when it comes to moving a business to the paperless model. Let us look at five myths about paperless offices that prevent organizations from adopting electronic document management, and consequently miss out on the benefits that such technology brings. Myth #1: Dedicated IT staff are required to maintain a DMS application. Reality — This is fast becoming a thing of the past. Modern software applications can be simple to install and easy to maintain. Today’s document management software is designed on a task-based model. That means software developers place themselves in your shoes and learn what organizations want from the solution. What…

In order – and congrats to Greg Clark for #1 ranking… Creating an ECM Organization Structure – Part 1- Building Your Team It’s the Users…An Old Story Repeated Many Times A Tweet is a Record SharePoint – Where to Begin? – Play Legos! Records Management in the Cloud – Another Perspective Two by Two – Part 2 Governance – Overused? Misused? Flavor of the Month? ECM for Unstructured Content Only? No Way! 5 Myths About SharePoint Records Management A Phase 0 Approach for SharePoint 2010 A Steaming Pile of SharePoint [Editor's Note: Gets my vote for favorite title!] SharePoint, Don’t Blame the Product The 5 Second Rule of ECM Content The AIIM Information Certification Why KM Sucks – and what NOT to do about it Relationship Between Content Management and Social Media OpenSocial: Social Content Meets ECM? User Profile List in SharePoint 2010 ECMJam: SharePoint and ECM Enterprise 2.0: Transforming Your Workforce into a Global Pool of Talent —– Registered yet for our Social Business Virtual Conference on September 8? Will we see you at our Content Management Boot Camp?

And the Top Ten list is…(Where’s Letterman?) 5 Myths about Taxonomy and SharePoint 5 myths about SharePoint 5 myths about Document Management 5 myths about the CMIS standard 8 Reasons SharePoint 2010 Looks Like a True ECM System 5 myths About ECM ROI Back of the napkin noodle-ings on the lifecycle of #ECM Google+: A great new potential tool, or just another darn thing to check? 8 Features in SharePoint 2010 That Rock SharePoint Saturday “The Conference” – a quick recap —– Registered yet for our Social Business Virtual Conference on September 8? Will we see you at our Content Management Boot Camp?

AIIM is introducing a new and unique annual conference in San Francisco, March 20-22, 2012, and is looking for forward-looking and engaging presentations. Use this opportunity to share and discuss your strategy and lessons learned for using content to engage customers or staff; automate the processing of content; and controlling content in a social, local, and mobile era. Attendees will learn from thought-leaders and early adopters, while networking and connecting with their peers. Plan the future of content management in an era of social, local, and mobile technologies. The 2.5 day conference program will consist of a series of entertaining and thought-provoking 20 minute presentations by business and IT executives. Learn about opportunities, challenges, and possible solutions Get ideas and strategies from industry rock stars and early adopters Choose between 3 tracks covering content management strategies in an era of social, local, and mobile technologies: Engage: Use enterprise content to engage customer, partners, or staff Process: Automate the processing of enterprise content to improve business operations Control: Managing enterprise content and records to meet regulatory compliance Note that our goal is to have many presentations that will require participation by the attendees; e.g., the speaker shares a problem that the…