In our last post entitled: “The Three Key Things to Managing Content” Victor covered the “manage” phase of the Electronic Content Management process. As a quick recap, in our earlier posts we wrote about a simple way to define ECM and the capture phase of ECM process. In this post I’m going to cover the third phase of the ECM process: “store”.
Up till now we’ve been describing what one might call the front end of the ECM process. It’s pretty much the information that you receive and send in the form of documents and electronically on a day to day basis.
From an ECM perspective this content is captured and managed using processes and technologies in the form of scanning machines and software that categorizes the content so that it can be easily accessed by those who need it.
Storing this content is critical so it can be easily saved and accessed in order to improve productivity in key areas of your business including accounts payable, your mailroom and perhaps for compliance purposes.
As is the case with the manage phase, the store phase also has three key buckets and they are: Repositories, Library Services and Technologies.
A repository is simply a container where information and content is stored. It can be a file folder on your computer, a database with accounting information in it, an ecommerce system etc.
So where’s the iPod fit in? When the latest album by Lady Gaga comes out, Apple makes it available through iTunes for purchase. The song files for that album are stored in a database that you access and purchase using Apple’s online ordering system. The songs are then downloaded and filed under “Albums” on you iPod. Apple’s music database, their ordering system and your “Albums” folder are all repositories.
You’ll hear terms like data warehouse, data stores, document and information warehouses and names for various systems that act as containers where content and information is managed and stored. These are just terms for various types of things that contain and help organize and access your information and content.
The next bucket in store process is “library services”. Library services acts as the bridge or interface from the front end of the ECM process where content is being captured and managed to the back end of the process where it is being stored, archived and retrieved.
Apple’s iTunes is a form of library service because it provides you with an interface where you can access content for sale, content you’ve purchased, and content you’ve captured yourself. It acts as the digital switchboard that connects you, the user, to the content that is stored in various repositories.
The iTunes system knows what you’ve purchased including songs, albums, T.V. episodes, audiobooks and feature films. It also knows what you’ve captured such as photos & videos (taken from your iPhone for example). And finally, it provides you with direct access to Apple’s library of content.
It also enables you to sync and store your content on your computer, iPod, iPhone and iPad. And of course, iTunes ensures you comply with any digital rights and licensing restrictions that are in place for a particular piece of content.
There’s more to Library Services than this simple comparison to iTunes, but hopefully it gives you a frame of reference that is useful.
The best way to describe technologies is to think in terms of the computer or device you are using right now to read this post.The hard disk in your computer is a type of storage technology. The content you save is stored locally on your hard drive. You may back it up to another storage device which could be another computer or a server etc.
What you see in the picture montage above are various technologies including (in clockwise rotation) an optical hard disk drive, an EMC network attached storage system, a data center and the new Apple iPad (iPad picture source). All can be used to store content.
The “storage” phase of the ECM process includes repositories which are containers of content, library services which acts as an interface to/for content and technologies which include the hardware and software required to save and keep your content.
I hope this post and our ECM 101 series provides you a good overview of what ECM is all about. If you have thoughts you’d like to share regarding this post and the store process please leave a comment below or contact me directly via Linkedin or our contact usform.
Alfredo De Vanna is CTO of Yakidoo. He has over 10 years of international experience deploying over 80 critical information technology and enterprise content management systems. He is fluent in English and Spanish.
In Alfredo’s earlier post entitled: "What Is Capture and Where Should We Start” he provides a high level overview of the first phase in the Enterprise Content Management process. In this post I’m going to cover the second phase “manage”.
You’ll hear a wide range of terms like metadata, taxonomy, folksonomy, classification and various types of standards that may make your head spin when trying to sort out how electronic content should be managed.
In addition there are other things that factor into the management piece of the ECM equation in the areas of process, workflow,automation and compliance. Controlling who has access to what content is a critical component as well.
I would argue that manage is the most complex and potentially daunting piece of the ECM puzzle. But, like anything else, it’s important to put this into perspective and don’t let the gobbly gook get to you. Let us worry about that!
We don’t want to downplay the importance of detailed requirements needed in an ECM system in order for content to be managed properly and productively. But for the purpose of this post we’ve boiled down the manage phase into three important buckets: Organize, Access and Find.
Once your content has been captured it has to be classified or labeled in an organized fashioned. If you take a trip to your local grocery store you’ll see an example of this. Yes, I know this may seem like an odd ball example but take a look at how the products are organized.
Most groceries stores organize the products they sell using a classification system based on aisles, shelves, stocking units and SKUs. We all grocery shop so we know why stores do this. It makes it easier for them to stock product and for us to find it. All the cereal can be found in one area, the baby products in another etc.
In content management we take a similar approach using things like metadata and taxonomies as our aisle numbers and shelves so to speak.
Not all content is created equal. Some of it should be readily available to all employees and some of it should not. Defining who has access to the content and how, is a key element to the manage phase of the ECM process.
The “who” is really about what content people need access to in order to do their jobs based on their role and position in the company and what they need to accomplish. A purchasing agent for example would need access to all content that has been captured that is pertinent to a specific transaction. They don’t need access to job performance reviews though.
The “how” is the way in which they access the content. Once captured, the content will reside in an ECM system that can not only restrict access but also how the content can be consumed. A purchasing agent may be able to view a digitized paper purchase order but not be able to change it or print it for example.
Finding key content is the final key element in the manage phase of Enterprise Content Management.
The information that exists in your organization is useless if you can’t find it. It’s even worse if you have to recreate it. In fact the cost of finding and recreating content is one of the key ROI arguments for deploying Enterprise Content Management.
I hope this post has been helpful in providing a simple and clear overview of the “manage” process for ECM. The key is to aim for the red circle in the graphic above where Organize, Access and Find meet in the middle.
If you have thoughts you’d like to share regarding this post and the manage process please leave a comment below or contact me directly via Linkedin or our contact us form.
Victor Bensusan is CEO of Yakidoo. He has 20 years experience in Finance and Information Technology primarily in the area of process automation, information management and business performance improvement.
In Victor's earlier post entitled: Is There A Simple Way to Define Enterprise Document Management, “Capture” is identified as the first phase in the Enterprise Content Management (ECM) process.
Content is simply any information being produced and received by an organization on a day to day basis.
In the ROI of Enterprise Content Management, I noted that “unstructured” content is growing at roughly 200% annually. This flood of content includes invoices, purchase orders, waybills, emails, spreadsheets, videos, contracts, agreements etc.
This free form content lives in various places including file folders, some one’s brief case, filing cabinets, banker boxes, various file server folders, your employees hard drives and email inboxes – among other places.
According to statistics from PricewaterhouseCoopers, companies on average spend $20 in labor costs to file a document and as much as $120 in labor to find a misfiled document. Companies typically lose one out of every 20 documents and spend 25 hours reproducing it at an average cost of $220 per document.
As a result, many of our capture projects focus on the digitization of paper documents in order to cut costs and improve productivity. There are other driving factors such as compliance and automation as well.
It’s more than just digitizing a document. It’s about extracting the data from that document and placing it into other systems that are integral to your business processes. The diagram below helps illustrate this point.
Forms and documents are scanned and key pieces of information are captured, indexed and imported into key systems. Those that are used to operate your business and manage information productively, particularly in the areas:
To start, you need to decide what you should and what you shouldn’t capture. Capture information that is critical to the success and health of your business. There are generally a core group of documents that house this information. They may be waybills, government forms, purchase orders, forms filled out and signed by your customers. These are the documents that you should consider capturing.
Virtually any content can be captured so that the information can be better used, stored, accessed and managed. What forms or documents piling up on your desk should be captured?
Alfredo De Vanna is CTO of Yakidoo. He has over 10 years of international experience deploying over 80 critical information technology and enterprise content management systems. He is fluent in English and Spanish.
If you are looking for a quick overview or to brush up on EMC’s Documentum ApplicationXtender 6.x this post may be useful. ApplicationXtender (AX) electronically stores, organizes, and manages virtually any kind of business content.
In 2009 EMC launched version 6.0 with three key features of the release being: Workflow Manager, Software Based Retention Management, and Internationalization/Localization.
This video from Phil Wong, provides an overview of what AX does and provides some details on the new features that were released with version 6.
Timeline:
00:48 Phil shows what documents can be scanned and mentions that ApplicationXtender supports over 270 file extensions. Also confirms that documents can be locked down right at the document level.
02:00 Phil talks about how documents and files can be viewed using Office 2007, the desktop or using a browser
02:56 Phil talks how ROI can be achieved by digitizing documents and reducing costs of copying, mailing or couriering documents as opposed to distributing them digitally.
04:15 ApplicationXtender What was included in the AX 6 release: Workflow Manager, Software Based Retention Management, and Internationalization/Localization.
04:35 Workflow Manager: Phil uses an Accounts Payable workflow scenario.
06:29 Software Based Retention Management: You can now retain and destroy documents based on your document retention policy.
07:30 Internationalization & Localization: Supports multiple languages.
With the release of AX 6.5 we headed over to the EMC Documentum ApplicationXtender and Captiva Bootcamp in Chicago.
Here is a list of the enhancements that have been made to ApplicationXtender V6.5 which was released earlier this year:
How to Scan Your Purchase Orders
Victor Bensusan is CEO of Yakidoo. He has 20 years experience in Finance and Information Technology primarily in the area of process automation, information management and business performance improvement.
Enterprise Content Management (ECM) can be confusing for the best of us, although this one minute video is pretty good.
When I describe what ECM is to someone there’s a good chance I’ll get a glazed over look. I may get that smile that says “I’m listening and being polite but shouldn’t this ECM thing be a lot simpler to understand?”
Well, maybe talking about ECM during a hockey game or a barbecue isn’t the best time or place, but even when sitting in front of a business leader it’s a big concept to wrap one’s head around.
As you can see above, Wikipedia flags the article with the following issues:
So, while ECM is not the easiest thing to explain, let alone implement, organizations like AIIM and others in the industry are stepping up by offering free research, establishing standards like CMIS, sharing information and expertise through discussion forums, social networks and on blogs. And we must continue to do this!
Our blog and our ECM 101 series is one place, we hope, you can turn to get answers and ask questions. So let’s take a high level look at the ECM process.
There are two diagrams that we use to explain how ECM works. The first is AIIM’s “What in the World is ECM?” It’s a definition and graphic that helps outline the ECM process.
AIIM defines ECM as “Strategies, methods and tools used to capture, manage, store, preserve and deliver content and documents related to key organizational processes
This chevron diagram breaks down the ECM process into these five simple to remember phases. In upcoming posts we’ll cover each one. Next, let's see ECM in action. Here’s a simple scenario of how it would work.
This diagram shows you how content flows through your business when an ECM system is in place.
Unstructured data includes:
Do you have a simple and effective way to define what ECM is? Feel free to add a comment or question below.
Victor Bensusan is CEO of Yakidoo. He has 20 years experience in Finance and Information Technology primarily in the area of process automation, information management and business performance improvement.
Yakidoo has received the “Valuing Inspired Performance” Award for the stellar service for the consulting and deployment of a Data Capture solution. The award emphasizes the passion that Yakidoo has demonstrated throughout the project.
The award was presented to Yakidoo by a Senior Member of this Financial Services Organization who was quoted as saying:
“I want to express my thanks for the continued terrific team work and collaboration mixed with a huge dose of extra effort that has been displayed in the project extraction verification testing. Without your efforts we wouldn’t have moved into the driver’s seat-understanding how our new technology works with our data. Thank you all so much!”
Yakidoo is grateful and honoured to have earned this award. Our consultative approach and understanding of business issues sets us apart from our competitors. Our goal is to use our track record, experience and passion as a seal of approval for “absolute customer satisfaction” to all our customers.
For enterprises, the ability to retain their most valuable customers is sometimes more important even than their ability to attract and find new ones. Numerous studies have shown that, for companies, the cost of acquiring new customers can be magnitudes higher than the cost of retaining an existing one.
The enterprises which are most successful at building customer loyalty are those that not only meet customer needs and expectations but consistently anticipate requirements and exceed them. It is a competency that depends heavily on the ready availability of extensive information on all aspects of a customer relationship, from purchase and transaction histories to service and support issues.
Too often, paper-intensive processes that were designed for traditional brick-and-mortar business environments are wholly inadequate for true customer relationship management purposes these days. Increasingly, customers have begun interacting with businesses through various touch points including the Web and via mobile technologies and they expect consistent levels of support and service regardless of the interface.
The trend has put increasing pressure on companies to enable a sort of collective view of customer transactions and communications that is simply not supported by paper-intensive work-flow processes or CRM systems. For many companies, the consequences of this inefficiency have been troubling.
A report released in 2008 by the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) Council, showed that nearly one out of two companies are unable to fully monetize key account relationships because of a lack of adequate customer data.
The study of 450 CMOs showed that companies are increasingly struggling to attain a holistic and timely view of their customers because of siloed data, inadequate data-sharing policies and incompatible IT systems and databases. Not surprisingly, about 31 percent of those surveyed had customer attrition rates of 10 percent or more.
The ability of Enterprise Content Management (ECM) systems to manage vast amounts of unstructured data makes the technology ideal for enabling a centralized view of customer data. ECM tools are designed to let enterprises collect, manage, view and share content generated at different locations in different formats and by different applications.
By using ECM tools, a company can create a common data repository for collecting customer data from multiple sources and applications. Many current generation ECM systems use Web technologies to enable different applications, such as CRM to then easily access and use this centralized data store.
ECM systems can therefore allow enterprises to more fully leverage their investments in Customer Relationship Management technologies. According to the CMO study, many companies currently are unable to take full advantage of their CRM tools because of inadequately integrated customer data. ECM systems address this deficiency by allowing companies to bring all of their customer data to one central location from where it can be more easily managed, analyzed and shared.
The need to comply with a slew of state, federal and industry-specific regulatory requirements is forcing many companies to re-evaluate their processes for managing enterprise content.
Over the past several years, mandates such as Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX), the Gramm- Leach Bliley Act (GLBA), the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), the Patriot Act and the FDA’s 21 CFR 11 rules have all imposed strict reporting requirements on enterprises.
Traditional records management systems that are focused largely on physical documents such as paper and tape have proven to be largely inadequate to meet the requirements imposed by such mandates. As a result, there has been a growing interest in applying enterprise content management technologies (ECM) and principles to address the compliance challenge.
ECM systems, by definition are designed to help companies manage vast amounts of unstructured data scattered about in distributed data stores, e-mail, word processing documents, spreadsheets and numerous other file formats.
The technology can help companies achieve centralized control of enterprise content and greatly improve the manner in which content is produced stored, archived, distributed, reproduced, shared and destroyed. From a compliance standpoint such attributes are crucial.
ECM tools allow companies to quickly discover, retrieve and compile the information they need to meet their compliance reporting obligations. ECM systems can help enterprises track and control document access and revisions and enable them to adhere to prescribed document retention, archiving and destruction schedules.
Perhaps most importantly, ECM tools can help business sift through enterprise content and identify only the data that needs to be protected from a compliance standpoint, thereby eliminating costs involved in managing too much information.
A good content management system can enable better e-discovery processes, and help companies build efficient digital content inventories over which they can exercise centralized control.
The advantages of such control are enormous. With a regulation such as HIPAA for instance, all entities that maintain or transmit protected health information are required to implement strict security and privacy controls around the data.
Implementing an ECM suite can help covered entities exercise greater control over user access to protected health information (PHI) as they are required to under HIPAA. ECM systems can also help healthcare entities track all disclosures of PHI and establish the needed audit trails for tracking document history and document revisions.
ECM systems can similarly help financial services companies comply with the requirements of GLBA. Under the Act’s financial privacy rule, all covered entities are required to provide customers with a notice detailing their privacy policies.
In this case, ECM tools can simplify the document distribution process, and log every customer notice that is sent for reporting and auditing purposes.
Few regulations however, exemplify the need for enterprise content management techniques more than the SOX act. Under SOX, all publicly traded corporations above a certain size are required to establish and maintain tight control over financial documents.
They are also required to show how financial reports were created, and who accessed and modified those reports. As part of their SOX compliance requirements, enterprises need to be able to identify where errors or fraud could arise as a result of their accounting practices and requires executives to sign off on all financial reports.
The extensive document management requirements that are inherently built into the rule make ECM a no-brainer as far as SOX compliance is concerned.
Alfredo De Vanna is CTO of Yakidoo. He has over 10 years of international experience deploying over 80 critical information technology and enterprise content management systems. He is fluent in English and Spanish.
