Enterprise Trend
Linking Content and Processes
The abundance of information available has created content chaos in the enterprise. Disconnected silos of both structured and unstructured data are forcing businesses to turn to Enterprise Content/Data Management solutions for help in managing the flow of content through the enterprise—particularly in paper- or data-intensive sectors. The space is particularly hot, not just because of compliance issues attributable to the passage of Sarbanes-Oxley, but also because of the inefficiencies abundant in many process-oriented organizations.
Gartner Group estimates that knowledge workers, like customer service representatives, spend up to 40% of their time managing content-related tasks like content retrieval. Of that content, the majority is unstructured. A recent Business Solutions magazine article estimates “about 80% of the information that knowledge workers need is unstructured content such as correspondence.” The challenge today’s enterprises must overcome is to shorten the time it takes to connect knowledge workers to the right information, in the right format.
Unstructured content comes in many shapes, sizes and formats, including:
Not coincidentally, the promised benefits of Business Process Management (BPM) are driving enterprises to take a hard look at how well core business processes are mapping to business objectives. On equal footing, enterprises are also examining how well content supports those business activities. To manage and optimize how content is used, enterprises are increasingly looking at visualization “dashboard” tools, to provide real-time activity monitoring.
Case in Point
To illustrate, let’s use the example of a call center at a telecommunications company. A visual dashboard graphically illustrates how well the call center is performing, providing real-time insight into a variety of performance metrics:
- Number of calls handled per customer service rep (CSR);
- Customer feedback on call resulution;
- Resource utilization during a call; and;
- Reasons that a call back was required (information not available during initial call?).
The visualization of how those information sets map to established thresholds provides a unique opportunity to empower decision makers through integration with content management systems. One CSR may be exceeding expectations with call resolutions, providing a success pattern for other CSRs to follow. Records of training, patterns of content access and use of specific tools may provide clues to success.
Because ECM solutions provide content indexing and full-text search capabilities, key information required to fully service a customer can be made readily available. A telecommunications customer may have a question about number portability and how to switch providers. A quick search for “number portability” in the content management system yields a document containing steps to changing telecommunications providers while retaining personal phone numbers. ROI is generated in the reduction of call times and return phone calls due to an effective linking of people and content.
Another example is focused more on systems monitoring and visualization. A chemical plant may have hundreds of chemical silos and a host of information sets to monitor how well those silos are functioning, including quantity, temperature, inventory trends and pressurization.A graphical representation may indicate that the temperature of a particular chemical inventory exceeds a certain threshold. By linking monitoring to relevant content, technicians could access a user manual delineating corrective procedures for the cooling system just by clicking on an icon. If any part of the system needs replacing, the active dashboard points to an order form and originates a workflow item for purchase order approval. Full-text searches would subsequently equip technicians with the ability to find other equipment prone to similar malfunction to conduct pre-emptive maintenance.
Value of Visualization
The coupling of visualization software with Enterprise Content Management software provides enterprises with a compelling, real-time glimpse of how well content is being used across the enterprise. In essence, an integrated approach empowers businesses to:
- Graphically monitor the flow and utilization of content through the enterprise, in real time, through an intuitive console;;
- Make better decisions based on activity benchmarking;;
- Reduce content search times through the categorization, indexing and retrieval of content;
- Manage both structured data and unstructured data, including e-mail, text files, images, paper-based documents, legacy system data, correspondence, call notes, forms, etc.;;
- Safeguard content through electronic back-ups, business continuity plans and redundancy; and;
- Author and share content with traditional desktop applications (Microsoft Office, Microsoft Excel, etc.). ;
Founded in 1987 and headquartered in Melbourne, Florida, Identitech is consistently rated as one of the top companies specializing in providing information management technologies to global businesses. Identitech helps companies collect and analyze information, automate processes, improve business operations, and improve organizational efficiency. Our business intelligence approach encourages innovation and provides companies with the competitive edge they need. More information is available at eiStream Identitech
FYI®, from Identitech, is an example of a complete BPM solution. The FYI BPM framework incorporates the complete range of industrial-strength functionality that enables organizations to maximize efficiency and improve the bottom line. With tightly integrated enterprise content and process solutions that incorporate revolutionary, patented business activity monitoring technology, Identitech is uniquely positioned to provide immediate benefits to any organization.
Editor's note: As of this posting, Identitech has been acquired by eiStream and will be known in future as eiStream Identitech