When it comes to content management, it`s a jungle out there. The issues hide in thickets of jargon, managers are trapped by undergrowth and value is in the long grass, stalked by sharp-fanged technology predators.
Companies must have the right people access the right documents at the right time.
Paul Mullon, Marketing Director, Metrofile.
Look for yourself. All you will see are words and slogans: integrated document management systems, image management, output management, workflow, business process management, collaboration, integrated document and output management, integrated document archive and retrieval systems, knowledge management, Web content management, even the innocuous-sounding portals.
The phrases are a carefully constructed barrier to meaning, a rich camouflage to trap unwary executives, already sinking in a morass of information overload. Promising a quick route out of the forest, they deliver the already confused market deeper into darkness.
There is only one route to safety. You need to go right back to basics and ask two simple questions:
- . Exactly what is meant by the term content management?
- . What relevance does it have to my business strategy?
Here, you should seize the well-known phrase "think global, act local". Global refers to overall strategy. Know where you are going, even if it is not spelt out in detail. But local means homing in on areas of critical importance. You achieve this through a content audit, which allows identification of the most important documents in your business.
For some, these may be process documents, such as an invoice. In an insurance company, for example, they may be policy or claims documents. These key documents may be defined in terms of volume or value, with the latter of high strategic or monetary worth.
As the audit unfolds, you develop very quickly a clear idea of which areas to focus on. These are where the "local" targets need to be set. Act immediately for quick gains and you will find that the rest of the problems are not so huge after all.
One word of caution, though. To act local does not require breakneck speed. Like our lost traveller, you gain enormous rewards to stop and think. Gain understanding about your own processes. A good starting point is to ask which documents leave you exposed if lost? And what do you understand by lose? A document locked away when needed by a colleague for a court appearance is as good as lost. Companies must have the right people access the right documents at the right time.
As you start to frame your definition of value, develop a "measurable business outcome". This will be unique to each company, depending on processes and goals.
Pointing the way
Don`t think that the route out of the jungle is digital alone. Nearly all companies manage an entrenched mixture of paper and electronic documents. Weigh carefully the value of each, and its components. A document locked in a notebook computer`s inbox is also lost if its owner is asleep on the beach!
As you carve a path towards the safety of true content management, three signs point the way. Cost reduction is first and, rightly, top of mind for most people at the moment.
Second is general process efficiency. This does not necessarily mean company-wide technology solutions like workflow, but rather recognising problems in a particular process and asking how they can be improved. That may deliver lower costs, or the right document at the right time, or just better accuracy, but there will be a productivity gain.
Last, but by no means least, is improved customer service. A customer contact means being able to retrieve their documents quickly - electronically or otherwise. If you can`t, you`ll make them angry and face the risk of losing them. Then you will really be at the mercy of the beasts of the jungle!
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