Myth-Busting and the New Face of ECM
Since the first days of enterprise content management (ECM), it has presented a challenge. Organizations the world over realize the benefits that an ECM system can deliver in terms of better compliance, improved information management and superior information sharing. Yet, myths persist regarding how an ECM system should be used by the typical knowledge worker. Let’s examine these myths and see if they have any validity, and—more importantly—make sure they don’t prevent you and your organization from realizing the benefits of ECM.
Myth #1: ECM is overkill; a basic collaboration or file-sharing tool will do the job.
When dealing with the information management needs of a department or small business, this might be true. But even an average-sized business has plenty of information being created and shared on a daily basis. How is it being managed, if at all? As the information management needs of an organization increase, you need an infrastructure that is built to grow along with those needs. With the ever-increasing demands for tighter controls and requirements to adhere to industry regulations around information governance, the need to properly manage all types of intellectual property is becoming even greater. Relying on simple collaboration or file-sharing tools can put your company at significant risk should you ever need to discover critical information. While you may never face a legal challenge, your knowledge workers will face significant difficulty trying to find the right information at the right time. ECM removes this challenge by providing one location to store, manage and control the evidence you need.
Myth #2: ECM is hard to learn and doesn’t work with the tools that I already use.
While this was often the case with earlier ECM platforms, it is no longer true. Previously, many ECM vendors tried to create a single client that would be used by all users as part of a “one-size-fits-all” approach. This vendor methodology is a frequent reason that a significant percentage of ECM deployments fail or do not reach their true potential. The single-client-experience approach is further compromised by evolving user expectations. In their personal lives, today’s knowledge worker is familiar with a wide array of powerful yet intuitive software tools and expects a similar, seamless experience when it comes to corporate applications and daily work processes. Experience has taught us that user adoption rates are directly associated with the success of most IT projects and certainly the same is true with an ECM implementation. But when the client experience is geared toward the most adept and powerful end users in an organization, the typical knowledge workers and their needs are not addressed and, quite predictably, the system never catches on with the broader potential audience. When ECM is properly implemented, it is an intrinsic and natural component of the daily user experience and a seamlessly implemented segment of the business process. ECM is simply “there” for knowledge workers to leverage without significant effort or intrusive application switching. When ECM is integrated within applications and processes that are already part of the everyday user experience, there is not a separate application to learn.
When you are considering an improvement to your ECM system, contemplate who will be using it and how. What works for the engineering organization will likely not work for the legal department, but both have similar fundamental requirements regarding information management, access control and security. Standardize on a robust, common ECM platform to realize a more rapid return on investment and lower administration costs, but make sure that you also have flexibility in terms of client-side delivery.
Myth #3: ECM provides more power than most people really need.
A modern ECM platform delivers a plethora of functionality and services, from document lifecycle management to retention policy services and Web experience management. When the average knowledge worker simply wants to leverage basic content services, like versioning, access control and renditions, exposure to more advanced services can be overwhelming and certainly appear like the proverbial “sledgehammer to drive in a thumbtack.” Advanced services are valid to other parts of the organization and critical from an information management perspective, but they need not always be visible.
Delivering ECM functionality within the context of the user application is critical here. The user of ECM services within Microsoft Outlook has a finite set of information management needs and does not need to be presented with a menu of 20 different service options. The power user of an ECM system often needs access the full scope of functionality, but this is not the case for the average user. A robust ECM platform will deliver the right set of functionality to the right audience within the proper context while leveraging the same infrastructure to minimize administrative, storage and other IT costs.
Getting It Right
Executing and delivering on a successful ECM system is more important today than ever before. The combination of new information types, improved means of collaboration, and rising user expectations adds new elements to the implementation process. Couple this with increases in government regulations, industry-standard adherence and legal discovery requirements and one quickly sees the need for a standardized approach to information management that must also be flexible to meet individual and departmental access demands. Be sure to consider all factors as you implement or improve upon your ECM system and you’ll have a system that is easy to use, works with existing client-side applications and delivers the right functionality while addressing your organization’s business, legal and compliance requirements.
EMC Corporation (NYSE: EMC) is a leading developer and provider of information infrastructure technology and solutions that enable organizations of all sizes to transform the way they compete and create value from their information. Information about EMC’s products and services can be found at
www.EMC.com.
To learn more about enterprise content management solutions from EMC, visit www.EMC.com or call 800-607-9546 (outside the US: 925-600-5802).