Product category:
Document and workflow management software
News Release from: Documation | Subject: Documation UK
Edited by the Manufacturingtalk Editorial
Team on 07 August 2006
Information overload
ECM: Achieving One Version of the Truth by Gary Fisher, CEO Europe and North America at Objective Corporation
It is a well known fact that organisations are under increasing pressure to manage information more effectively and efficiently, and to drive as much value as possible from that information to deliver better performance results This has been the situation for many years now, but what is changing - and changing for the better - is the realisation that information management is no longer just an issue for the IT department to resolve through the implementation of another piece of technology
This article was originally published on Manufacturingtalk on 29 Jun 2006 at 8.00am (UK)
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Human resources, legal, auditing, customer services - every part of an organisation operates on information.
IT is responsible for the storage of electronic data and the networks it is carried across.
However, an IT manager will not be able to tell if one document among many thousand or million other documents is business critical.
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Yet the loss of that document or record could lead to the organisation being unable to defend itself from legal action or prove it is compliant with one of the many acts and regulations the business community is governed by.
One solution to this increasingly important and complex problem is 'ECM'.
ECM has been promoted as a method of controlling creation, secure filing and managed information retrieval at a stroke.
With the installation of a few pieces of technology - a little software here perhaps, some hardware there - ECM will remove the problem of managing information and allow an organisation to get on with business.
If this sounds far good to be true that's because it is - ECM in its many forms isn't a one size fits all solution because of the very nature of what it is supposed to manage.
Organisations often operate across multiple geographies.
That means they must juggle not only different currencies, but different legislative requirements.
And these requirements aren't just limited to financial issues but how a business operates.
The legal requirements directing employee dismissal, for example, are very different in the UK from those in the US or those in France.
So how can one 'in a box' solution fit an organisation that operates in the UK and US with one that operates in the UK, France and Germany? Quite simply, it can't.
But this does not mean that ECM is a failure or another redundant IT ideology.
What is key is that organisations understand what 'ECM' is and how it fits in with other business operations to deliver real value across the enterprise.
So lets get 'back to basics', and clarify just what a 'document' is rather than get bogged down in vague definitions involving the equally unhelpful terms 'content', 'knowledge' and 'information' that frequently get thrown around in discussions on the topic.
A document is any email, word document, spreadsheet, file, record, report, statement, telephone record, note, powerpoint presentation, CCTV video clip, web-cam mpeg - you get the idea - an organisation has produced, used or amended.
This indicates the scale of problem.
ECM is the method of managing all this information - stored in different places, in different formats and affected by different regulations - and should be seen as a process, involving people, activities and technology that are all aligned to the true business need.
Only when seen in this light can ECM address the three key issues faced by management today - namely, compliance with legislation (Sarbanes-Oxley, Companies Bill, Freedom of Information Act to name but a few), delivery of fast, secure access to information when required and finally, but not least, delivery of shareholder value through improved efficiency.
Each of these issues affects every organisation - but each organisation has unique concerns and issues to address.
This is why ECM can never be a pure-play technology solution.
So, where to start with this process? Before any technology has been acquired, or any cost estimates made, the first - the very first - thing that needs to be done is an enterprise wide information audit.
Think of your information as a jigsaw puzzle, lots of pieces all over the place that at first glance may seem to have little in common.
In putting the jigsaw together you see how the pieces fit, which pieces link to each other and where any gaps are.
Achieving the complete picture gives a view of the organisation that can be truly illuminating and often highlights areas requiring attention that may not have been otherwise identified.
However, for all its immediate benefits this is often the most frightening part of the task, partly because in the business world the sheer enormity of the task is further challenged by issues surrounding security.
Organisations keep much of their information secret and separate for good reason, often backed up by regulatory enforcement that they do so.
However, it is also the most important part of the process and should not be done half-heartedly.
There are many independent businesses that can assist with information audits and an outside view can be extremely useful.
It is critical that no assumptions are made at this stage - what you need is an accurate picture of how employees, customers, intermediaries, auditors, regulators even the press in certain cases interact with and create documents.
Only when an organisation has achieved this is it in a position to examine how it can improve processes to deliver the benefits it desires.
Legislation now impacts on almost every aspect of an organisation's operations.
Different types of organisation are affected by different regulations and certain operations are regulated by different laws.
Additionally, the cost of staying compliant is increasing to worrying levels.
While most examples come from the retail banking sector they should still give pause for thought to others, with HSBC spending well over GBP200m in 2004 on compliance and Barclays Bank allocating a fifth of its overall IT budget on achieving compliance.
ECM processes can be used as a very effective means of ensuring that the highest levels of return on investment can be achieved from compliance investments.
Achieving compliance should be seen as one of the many benefits of having an efficient ECM strategy in place.
Once an organisation knows what information it has, in what format, rules can be devised and strategies implemented to manage those documents in the most efficient way.
These rules should be based on two principles - what is the value of that document to the organisation and what legislation regulates its management? These two things are often complementary rather than opposing challenges.
So the legislative framework can assist in improving process when seen as part of an overall ECM strategy.
The efficiencies that an organisation benefits from as a result include faster access to critical information, higher levels of data accuracy and more informed and reliable planning - all vital to staying competitive and improving profit margins.
The business world balances on estimates of probability.
These estimates are formed through analysis of a wealth of information.
If that information is inaccurate the results can be catastrophic.
Not having that information can be equally catastrophic.
Employees cannot operate 'blindly', they need to know they can find the information they need, when they need it and that it is 100 per cent reliable.
The business is risky enough without technical glitches or mis-filing of reports and documents.
The impact is not just one of non-compliance, it can be significant enough to impact on an organisations profit margin, even to bring it down all together.
Effective ECM strategies, that reflect and support the human processes and strategies, can ensure that information is available when needed, where it is needed and that its use is recorded and all related data updated.
This is reflected across the enterprise so that regardless of the medium used to access the document it is managed in a way that ensures compliance without slowing down access or even making it impossible - unless that actually supports a business process.
Which leads us onto security.
As already discussed, organisations must ensure high levels of security with regard to much of the data used.
This is enforced by regulation but is also key to retain a competitive advantage.
ECM can support security strategies already in place and also can identify possible weak links in security.
ECM strategies should be unique to every organisation because the needs, business drivers and processes of each organisation are unique.
Applied as a process in a way that reflects how an organisation interacts with its documents and how external bodies need to interact with its documents managers can improve the return on investment in technologies that support effective management of information and maximise these technologies efficiencies.
Faster access to data, improved reliability and accuracy increase competitive advantage.
Critically compliance is something that can be made to happen automatically reducing risk of legal or legislative challenges.
All of which makes the organisation more stable and profitable, keeping shareholders, city analysts, board members, employees and IT staff happy as a result.
Objective Corporation is exhibiting at Documation UK in partnership with AIIM.
It is the largest dedicated exhibition of its kind in the UK covering end-to-end enterprise content management.
It will address the latest issues in information management, including web content, email and fax management, document management, records management, storage, business processes and compliance.
Olympia 2, London, 18-19 October 2006.
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