Did anyone else wake up this morning still thinking it was February? The weather might say otherwise, but I can’t wrap my brain around the fact that it’s already the end of June! As the year’s halfway mark approaches, where do you stand in your process improvement goals for the year?
Whether you’ve already started or you lost track of time, you can move your process improvement initiatives forward by setting up a robust Enterprise Content Management (ECM) solution. Not only can it boost the efficiency of your operations, but it can also increase responsiveness to changing regulatory and market conditions.
Below are the perfect ingredients to create a winning ECM recipe (according to AIIM’s Whitepaper) that offers simplicity on the front-end and sophistication on the back-end.
Simplify Content Collaboration – Internally and Externally
A big challenge organizations face is employees that are turning to consumer-grade file share and sync application for sharing content with people inside and outside of their organization – without their employer’s consent. AIIM found that 1 in 4 organizations are facing this challenge, which can put them at high risk, increasing vulnerability and causing lack of confidence in staff.
An ECM solution not only gives users access to content from anywhere, at any time, on any device, but it helps dictate WHO has access to that content. This enables the organization to maintain strict control over its information and support compliance requirements.
Empower your Workforce
Many business activities take place outside of an organization’s walls on a daily basis. An effective ECM solution should be able to extend beyond employees to include tools that assist external partners, suppliers and customers.
AIIM Research found that for 59 percent of organizations, mobile access to content is vital for proper workflow. In this day and age, professionals demand access to information at any time and from anywhere. It’s important to implement an ECM solution that is as simple to use as the applications employees use in their personal lives.
Create an Integrated Ecosystem
For organizations to effectively serve the needs of customers, they must have fast access to accurate and up-to-date information. AIIM Research found that 43 percent of organizations have 4 or more systems. Users should be able to quickly locate the correct version of a document without wasting time searching through disconnected systems.
The ultimate goal is to create an ECM solution with an integrated information ecosystem – an environment where all business systems are interconnected in a way that allows users to capture, manage and access the information they need, when they need it. As a result, users will be able to make more informed decisions and provide greater value to customers.
