Are You Sabotaging your ECM Conversion? Common Excuses that Guarantee Loss of Revenue

Last winter, a friend of mine returned from a trip to a casino. When I asked whether he preferred games or slot machines, his response was, “Slots? You’ll never come out ahead with slots. You may as well throw your money into the snow.” His reply got me thinking about the state of ECM today, and about the mindset of organizations that still haven’t adopted it. The technology has been around for decades. By now, everyone is aware of its benefits, and of the costs associated with not converting to enterprise content management. It’s mystifying to me that ECM wouldn’t be a top priority for any organization that wants to stay profitable and competitive. To put it bluntly: if you haven’t adopted ECM, you are hemorrhaging money.

Nonetheless, there are still a lot of businesses out there that are content to throw their money into the snow (I realize that the analogy is seasonal, but bear with me). After more than two decades in the business, I’ve seen an overwhelming number of success stories—even from organizations that take advantage only of the bare minimum of their ECM system’s capabilities. But inexplicably, from other organizations, I still hear the same rationalizations:

ECM is too expensive. We can’t afford it right now.

Newsflash: an ECM conversion is going to involve an investment—both in software and in training. Even if you decide to go with an open source solution for your enterprise, it’s going to cost money if you want it to work and if you can find IT support. In this economy, cost is a convenient excuse that seems to be prevalent in the marketplace. But delaying your conversion because you think you can’t afford it is like winning the lottery and not cashing in your ticket because you think that the taxes on the winnings will be too high.

If you truly believe that an ECM system is cost-prohibitive, it would be valuable to talk to a vendor to shed some reality on that assumption. There are probably a number of pricing options available to you that you’re unaware of—no matter what your size. We offer a subscription pricing model that lets clients take full advantage of ECM without an up-front capital expenditure and still maintain ownership of all their data and files (I know…shameless plug). Customers incur a monthly—and in some cases tax deductible—operating expense. Other vendors have probably also made adjustments in response to the economy. The bottom line is that there are alternatives to traditional ECM licensing costs. Claiming that it is too expensive—in addition to prolonging the inevitable—puts you at a tremendous competitive disadvantage.

The reality is that between the cost savings and the cost avoidance you achieve from installing an ECM solution, you typically can get a return on investment very quickly. Alternatively, consider the price of doing nothing:

• You lose money adding more staff because your current use of resources is inefficient
• You lose money adding more filing cabinets
• You lose money adding additional square footage for filing cabinets
• You lose money because you have to pay someone else to store files offsite
• You lose money associated with loss of business, compliance fines, or lawsuits from lost or destroyed files due to fire, water damage, theft, etc.
• You lose labor costs when you have to file or search for files in multiple cabinets, buildings, etc.
• You lose customers because their needs are not addressed in a timely, knowledgeable manner

ECM may seem expensive; but when was the last time you calculated the cost of not implementing ECM?

ECM is too complex

It’s true that installing an ECM system isn’t as easy as installing a new app on your iPhone. But it’s not rocket science either. Elements for successful ECM projects are the same elements that make a business successful:

• A heterogeneous team composed of representatives from different areas of your organization;
• A corporate climate that fosters excitement, enthusiasm and change;
• A thorough understanding of your business processes across your company; and
• A knowledge of the data that drives your business and a willingness to discover how this data can be reused to simplify business processes.

Let’s be realistic: obviously, you’re in the business of keeping your business up and running. And admittedly, it looks like preparing for an ECM implementation is a fulltime job. It’s easy to rationalize that you simply don’t have the time and resources that you would need. And if you let this stop you, you will have successfully sabotaged an opportunity for a significant ROI.

The return on investment that you can achieve with ECM isn’t limited to the financial realm. The opportunity to work with a vendor with domain experience will give you invaluable insight into your business processes. Working under an experienced vendor’s guidance, you will gain an in-depth, holistic view of exactly how your organization works. You may even uncover hidden bottlenecks and areas of need along the way.

Imagine where your business processes would be if you hadn’t made a transition to email. Or to a contemporary computing system. At some point, you made an investment in time, hardware, and training—if need be—in order to take advantage of advanced technology. And whether or not you choose to take the same leap with ECM technology, you can be assured that the rest of the world is making that transition. You can put it off for a few more years and continue to hemorrhage money. And maybe, after everyone else has made the transition, you’ll decide to implement ECM. If you’re still in business. Can you really afford to wait?

If you are fearful of the complexity that is involved with a transition, take advantage of industry expertise. You might be shocked to discover what you can accomplish with the combination of an experienced vendor and some easy-to-use ECM software. A vendor’s analysis of your business processes prior to your conversion will give you an understanding of your processes that is both in-depth and comprehensive. At the same time, it will ensure a smooth transition that will be met with excitement rather than fear.

We tried to implement ECM previously and we weren’t successful

It’s no secret that ECM implementations fail. Failure can result from a number of factors, including (but certainly not limited to):

• Poor or complicated technology
• Poor or insufficient training
• A lack of understanding of your business processes
• A lack of buy-in from management or end-users
• Lack of experienced project management
• Poor choice of team members
• Lack of the right goals
• Over-buying or under-buying a solution
• Lack of a change management program

It’s true that things can go wrong with a transition to ECM. Understandably, it can be intimidating to get back on that ECM horse after you’ve been burned once. (If it makes you feel better, we’ve successfully transitioned organizations to ECM that had previously failed their conversions on multiple occasions.)

A knowledgeable vendor can help you avoid the pitfalls that are associated with unsuccessful transition. Learn from your failures; then suck it up and move on. It’s not uncommon to have doubts. Find a vendor who takes the time to truly understand your business processes—this is critical to success. Make sure that the solution that the vendor is offering is easy to use, maintain, and support. This will ensure buy-in from your staff. And know that for every nagging doubt that you have about your organization’s ability to transition successfully to ECM, an experienced vendor can offer an attainable solution that has succeeded elsewhere under similar circumstances—and has the references to back it up.

We don’t want to make any dramatic changes to our current business processes.

Why rock the boat? You’re able to get your work done and attend to a loyal customer base by using your current system. It’s hard to imagine that an investment in ECM would be anything other than disruptive.

Yes, it’s possible to have a successful business without implementing ECM. But before you write off the possibility of a transition, consider the ways in which the world around you is changing:

• Customers have an expectation of self-service. They will want the ability to contact you and submit information over the Web.
• Customers expect immediate, informed service and quick turnaround.
• Right-To-Know and e-discovery laws require you to be able to produce documents upon request, and have severe penalties for noncompliance.
• Privacy laws mandate that customer information is secure and accessible only to authorized personnel.
• To remain competitive and profitable, you will need business process management tools in order to streamline operations and process more work without hiring additional personnel.
• Records management regulations are becoming more stringent, with severe penalties for noncompliance.
• You may need robust search tools to quickly locate information contained within documents or records.

Fear of change can be a powerful deterrent. It’s comfortable to stay with the status quo. The idea of taking a leap into the unknown is probably the most common disincentive in the business world today. But don’t fear ECM. Fear a volatile economy that may affect the spending habits of your customers and client base. Fear your competitors, who most assuredly are going to take advantage of this technology while you drag your feet. Fear the inefficiencies and slowdowns that are the inevitable results of prolonging a transition.

Are you content with the status quo? Think about what business you’re in and then think about how much of your top knowledge workers’ (aka your highly paid staff’s) days are spent addressing business needs. Compare that with their time and energy that is diverted while they are searching for, filing, sorting, sifting through, and printing copies of documents.

Isn’t it time that you got away from the document business and back to what you do best? Are you able to recognize that every day that you drag your feet, you’re throwing your money into the snow? What is holding you back? I’d love to hear from you.

For more information or to schedule a demonstration, please Contact DocFinity now.