Can Your Business Afford Not to Implement Enterprise Content Management (ECM)? Straight Talk from an Industry Veteran

I’ll let you in on a little secret. Articles like this are typically choc-full of scare tactics. Vendors like to talk big about the perils of paper processes, and how difficult it is to conform to compliance requirements. It is true that by definition, it’s almost impossible to implement the privacy and accountability measures that are mandated by law if your business is still paper-based. And if your business is paper-based, you are already intimately familiar with the struggles that are associated with trying to conform to industry directives—especially if you don’t have solid tools in place to do so efficiently. None of this is news to you.

It’s also not news that your business could be impaired or even ruined if you are unable to produce information in a timely manner. This can happen specifically if you are ever required to submit materials as part of an e-discovery scenario. Electronic documents, email, IM chats, audio files, and any other information that is stored electronically is fair game as part of litigation. It comes as no surprise that if you don’t have a way to access, organize, and manage your documents, business inefficiency could potentially be the least of your worries.

So let’s cut to the chase. The answer is no. With regulations becoming more stringent with each passing year, your business cannot afford to not implement ECM. You probably suspected as much going into this article. But if you continue to read, you may discover some motivators for adopting ECM that go beyond prospective penalties, damages, and other losses. Because it’s not about scare tactics. Instead of thinking about what you stand to lose if you don’t adopt ECM, consider what your business could gain with the right software implementation and the knowledge to make it work.

The great equalizer

ECM can provide your business—regardless of its size—with the opportunity to do more with less, and to compete with larger organizations that traditionally have access to more resources. With the right installation, the software gives you the ability to store all of your corporate information in a single searchable repository. As a result, files are no longer lost, misplaced, or duplicated. Your customers can get answers when they call—not when your staff is done finding the right file—and staff no longer has to wade through boxes of files and folders. Offsite storage can be eliminated, and onsite storage space can be converted to something more useful. Customers even have the option of self-service with secure electronic Web access. This is the bare minimum that ECM can do for your organization.

Tools such as workflow can automate and standardize routine procedures and give you the consistency that is required by to fulfill certain regulatory directives. Whether you are looking to start small, or are hoping to automate processes throughout your entire enterprise, workflow can eliminate many of your time-consuming and costly manual business processes. Certain vendors have the experience to be able to work with you to evaluate your processes for optimal efficiency. With the right software, even intricate and complicated workflows can be designed with a simple point-and-click interface. By implementing workflow to improve your business processes, you also receive the simultaneous benefit of addressing compliance requirements that are related to privacy, audit trails, and accountability. An experienced vendor can work with you to ensure that you can implement your governance requirements at the same time that you configure your processes for optimal efficiency. And all of this can be accomplished without the need for fear mongering or scare tactics.

Improving your bottom line with a disaster recovery strategy

And while we’re on the subject of scare tactics, you may have noticed that a lot of ECM vendors are espousing the familiar mantra of the need for disaster recovery. Again, it is true that you should have a disaster plan in place in the event that your business experiences an unforeseen catastrophe. But instead of looking at a disaster recovery plan as an expenditure that may or may not pay off, it is important to see the business value in such an investment.

The key to a solid disaster recovery plan involves choosing an ECM solution that gives you the ability out of the box to back up your records automatically to an off site environment. This provides several benefits that are critical to have in place in the event of an emergency. Automated back ups of all of your vital information—all without human intervention after the initial set-up—should be part of your solution day one. Regular backups assure that your corporate information can be accessed over the Web even if your physical environment is compromised. The same features can migrate older documents (those that are no longer in the active stage of their lifecycle) to a less-expensive storage medium. This ensures faster retrieval for documents that are in the active stages of their lifecycle.

You can also leverage this technology that is built in to your ECM solution to manage your records. It allows you to configure automatic retention and destruction schedules for optimal records management. It can also be integrated with workflow to guarantee that records are purged or retained according to the laws that are specific to your industry. The potential for human error is removed from the equation. This is another area where compliance requirements are addressed in the process of managing your business needs.

The real monster in the closet

I mentioned before that vendors like to use scare tactics. They’ll tell you that you need ECM in order to compete in your industry. They’ll tell you that ECM can help you address compliance initiatives. They’ll scare you into thinking that your business will collapse if you don’t have an ECM system in place if and when your company faces litigation. This is true. But vendors are wasting your time and wasting their breath with this approach. Because they are not telling you anything that you don’t already know.

In reality, there is a lot of fear associated with the idea of an ECM implementation. But most of it isn’t coming from the vendors. It’s coming from you. You’re afraid that a new system might be complicated and difficult to use. You’re staff may be afraid that you might have to significantly reduce your workforce if you implement automation throughout your enterprise. You’re afraid that an investment in ECM won’t yield a quantifiable ROI. Maybe you adopted an ECM system many years ago, and it just doesn’t have the capability to address modern business needs. You’re attached to your paper processes, and you have trouble visualizing how your business model will continue if you let go of them. Most of all, you’re afraid of change.

These are all legitimate fears. But they aren’t valid reasons to ignore the opportunity to transform your business processes. ECM solutions have come a long way since the early days. They have unlimited potential, with integration capabilities that were unheard of even ten years ago. Users are experiencing greater job satisfaction with the electronic systems, since they eliminate the majority of mundane, repetitive tasks. Most people whose businesses are paper-based don’t need to know whether or not they should implement ECM software. They need to know how. They need to know where to start.

The first step

If you’re lucky enough to locate a vendor who is able to get beyond sales pitches and scare tactics and actually listen to your concerns, you can benefit from a wealth of experience. Before implementing ECM software, make sure that a vendor has the ability to support you throughout all aspects of the project—from discovery and design to on-site go live support. Your vendor should partner with you at every step, listening to and understanding your objectives to ensure that your requirements are met.

Try to identify your specific needs, and to locate a vendor who offers a variety of integrated products from which to choose so that you can address your objectives without going over budget. ECM software should be scalable enough to use for a single department, but have the ability to grow with your business for implementation throughout your entire enterprise. To get the most out of your investment, inquire as to whether you can use the software to manage back-office administrative processes (human resources, accounting, operations, payroll, etc.) as well as your business processes. The day will come when ECM software is as prevalent as email in the business world. If it is fear that is holding you back, pick up the phone. Contact a vendor today to find out what ECM can do for your organization.

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