Realizing Enterprise Benefits from Content Management Systems

An ROH, Inc. White Paper

Authored by Roland Harris and James Just IMERGE Consulting, Inc. April 2007 Table of Contents

Defining Enterprise Content Management (ECM)...... 1 Scaling to Enterprise Demands...... 2 Planning for Expansion...... 2 ECM Federation for Internal Users...... 3 ECM Federation for External Users...... 4 Maximizing ECM Value...... 5 Repurposing Content...... 5 Elevating ECM in the Business Process...... 6 Business Application Enabling...... 6 ECM as a Strategic Resource...... 7 Supporting Business Continuity...... 7 Being a Good Corporate Citizen...... 7 A Successful ECM Purchase...... 7 Summary...... 8 A Successful ECM Project...... 8 About ROH...... 9 About the Authors...... 9 Realizing Enterprise Benefits from Content Management Systems

Defining Enterprise Content able to deliver all related information with a Management (ECM) single query.

Most all developers of traditional content Or, if legislation is passed changing the management software claim to offer retention requirements for certain types of enterprise class products. But what exactly information, an ECM system should allow is an enterprise content management destruction dates to be adjusted across all system? What should it be able to do? affected record types in all departments from a single point of administration. Is the enterprise designation warranted by how many types of content can be managed? Achieving such orchestration requires that Functional richness? Does it require the specialized departmental content systems ability to manage all electronic documents, share basic rule structures that make them including email and web content? Or does it available for central administration. To imply that functionality can be deployed succeed, an enterprise content management across all departments, managing a high system must provide operational flexibility volume of objects and thousands of users? at the departmental level and structured coordination at the institutional level. Certainly, any traditional content system claiming enterprise status must first provide One company that has built their ECM basic functionalities such as imaging, product on this model is ROH, Inc. Their document management, and workflow that OCULUS™ Content Management System are required to build the most typical types represents over ten years of client-driven of departmental content applications. refinements. What began as a departmental application has successfully evolved into a To rise to enterprise class, a content system true enterprise class content solution. should then provide features that support institutional objectives like single-point-of- This paper examines key requirements of access, legal compliance, and continuity. ECM systems including scalability, These capabilities address broader C-level application integration, and flexibility. concerns that critical business information is It highlights how OCULUS provides an managed in the most usable, appropriate, The OCULUS™ ECM Model and secure manner. To succeed, an enterprise content For example, if a customer service portal management system must provide requires access to documents or data from operational flexibility at the the order processing, manufacturing, and departmental level and structured shipping areas, an ECM system should be coordination at the institutional level.

Page 1 excellent platform from which to realize content management benefits at the enterprise level.

Page 2 Scaling to Enterprise Demands thousands of concurrent users without suffering a loss in performance. Organizations historically implemented content systems for individual departments. Beyond pure transaction volume, content For example, the customer service area applications also grow in complexity, might purchase an imaging system to including the many types of records retrieve order or shipping documents while managed and their relationships to one answering phone calls. Many of the earliest another. An ECM system must be able to digital systems were modeled closely after scale to support enhanced classification and their micrographic predecessors – they were retention rules for all desired record types. simple and designed for very specific tasks. When higher-level functions like workflow Successful digital content systems were are added, an ECM system must handle rapidly adopted by users, and IT staffs often multithreaded user connections, complex deployed similar products in multiple record locking, and authentication through departments. Management realized that layers of security before allowing users to these expanding islands of digital content perform even basic operations. This added held even greater potential if they could be pressureOCULUS on performance – Scalable isby where Design many linked together to support more complex, departmental content systems begin to fail. inter-departmental work processes. The OCULUS architecture is able to support an almost unlimited number of Scalability – the ability of a content system document classifications, users, and to grow within its own scope and share its security relationships. This allows information with other departmental organizations to expand departmental applications to handle massive applications – is now a fundamental concept increases in document volume or of enterprise content management. number of users with little or no tuning. OCULUS is also a 100% browser Planning for Expansion based application which reduces conflicts when deploying across diverse Modern ECM systems must be able to desktop environments. expand rapidly to handle new tasks, users, and volumes. Mergers, acquisitions, office A core OCULUS design element is relocations, restructuring, and back file federated searching, which conversions are common catalysts that transparently queries all OCULUS test the scalability of an ECM system. servers allowing users instant access to relevant objects stored anywhere in the enterprise. Adding storage or faster processors does not automatically improve the scalability of a The combination of both a flexible and content system. To support enterprise scalable architecture allows OCULUS demands, an ECM system must be built on a administrators to deploy departmental highly efficient architecture designed to content applications quickly, let them manage millions of stored objects and mature independently, and link them in the future as needed to facilitate inter-

Page 3 ECM Federation for Internal Users An ECM federation is a key tool for senior managers because it allows them to refine In the context of ECM, a federation is built organizational processes without expensive of multiple content systems that are able to IT projects. Federated procedures can be respond collectively to a request (typically a designed for various user groups whenever query) by a user of any individual system. and wherever they are needed, allowing the organization to respond dynamically to For example, consider a user that needs changing business situations. access to content stored beyond the reach of their departmental system. They need to The successful approach to building an know everything the organization has on ECM federation comes from the familiar record about a particular topic. phrase, “Think globally; act locally”. Organizations must consider classification, As long as the user passes authentication, a security, and retention rules for all forms of federated ECM system should deliver the records as part of their overall ECM project, query to all departmental content but should also be able to deploy basic applications, collate the results, and display systems quickly for tactical advantage. them for the user indicating where the requested information was found. Unfortunately, organizations often approach content management projects with very low- Content federations are possible when end products that can not be federated, or multiple departmental systems are able to with high-end products that require respond similarly to structured commands. significant time before even basic features This requires an ECM architecture that are available. A balance of immediate and supports external URL, SQL, XML, or other long range goals should be consistently met widely used query syntax. to support a successful ECM deployment.

OCULUS – Intuitive User Interface is the Key to Federated Searching

Searching for information through multiple departmental systems can be a challenging and time consuming task. OCULUS leads users to all the right information using a dynamic search screen that tailors itself depending on the systems or types of

Figure 1 – OCULUS Federated Search

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Figure 1 – OCULUS Federated Search ECM Federation for External Users

Just as an ECM federation gives internal For example, consider a city that offers a users more efficient access to information, it GIS-based research tool on its website. The can also benefit organizations by expanding tool allows property owners to enter their service opportunities for external users. address and find boundaries, easements, and utility data. The data is delivered through Today’s consumers expect organizations to the website in simple HTML format. offer substantial services over the web. Buyers want 24/7 access to product By linking the same website search to the information and secure on-line purchasing. city’s ECM system, the city can provide Taxpayers have been groomed to use e- links to much richer information like maps, filing instead of postal mail, and financial deeds, photos, drawings, and historical markets reward businesses that provide documents that support the HTML data. innovative customer self-service. This simple example shows how an ECM From an external user’s view, convenient system can benefit both internal and external access to information is often as important users – creating a multiplier effect on the to their perception of an organization as the ECM investment. The same system used for quality of the products or services offered. daily operations can also provide beneficial services to customers and partners. Organizations with effective ECM systems view these expectations not as challenges, Whether they are internally or externally but as opportunities to showcase their ECM focused, ECM systems should deliver the capabilities and create strategic self-service, right information, at the right place, in the CRM, B2B, and B2C solutions. most useable format. ECM deployments held to this standard can benefit almost any OCULUS – Leveraging ECM for Customer Servicefacet of an organization.

OCULUS can embed its federated search results within other systems such as B2B, B2C, GIS, Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), and other web self-service applications, adding a wealth of secure content opportunities for delivery of much more information.

Figure 2 – OCULUS Integration with GIS Website

Page 5 Maximizing ECM Value

Another enterprise benefit an ECM system Repurposing Content should provide is to create opportunities for value and savings beyond the requirements The value of a departmental content system for which it was originally deployed. can be easy to quantify. For example, if an order service imaging system saves $.035 Departmental content systems often replace per image versus paper storage, and the older technologies. Microfilm replaces department scans a million pages a year, the paper; imaging replaces microfilm, and so system generates $35,000 in annual savings. on. While each generation of technology should be better than the one before, they If the images from that same system are also often inherit existing departmental process made available to the collections department inefficiencies without improving on them. to expedite debt recovery, the system provides greater value to the organization. ECM systems allow organizations to Repurposing content leverages the evaluate work processes at a higher level. investment in a single system to benefit For example, is information being classified other departments, diluting departmental similarly in all departments? Are any costs and compounding the system’s value. departments keeping redundant information? Is workflow balanced, or is one department Repurposing internally-focused systems to or process creating a bottleneck? What external users also creates ECM value. In additional information sharing should occur the public sector “government in the between departments that can benefit the sunshine” laws have placed unprecedented function of the organization as a whole? demands on staff, and federated ECM systems are perfectly suited to automate OCULUS – Compounding Value through Repurposedinformation searchContent and delivery.

Organizations must weigh all IT investments carefully, considering everything from user adoption risks to the Collections year-to-year costs of operation. If evaluated Department strictly at a departmental level, content systems can often seem too Overdue expensive to justify. Invoice Images OCULUS minimizes Order Service ECM System

Figure 3 – Repurposing OCULUS Content

Page 6 Elevating ECM in the Business Process

Some businesses still consider content Business Application Enabling management as only an archival solution. Litigation fears have led many to implement LOB systems have advanced graphical user microfilm or imaging systems exclusively interfaces and multiple screens that must be for information at the end of its lifecycle, mastered by each role of employee. If given often to comply with legal retention periods. a choice, users almost always prefer However, newer content technologies like working in this screen environment over intelligent forms processing and automatic having to flip back and forth between document classification are designed for multiple open applications to perform tasks. use at the beginning of transactions. Getting an ECM system to support this Almost all organizations use a line-of- environment means exposing users to business (LOB) system like SAP™ or content tools only when and where they are Oracle™ as their operational platform. This needed, then letting the ECM system repository of structured information is perform its work in the background. The where users spend the majority of their time. concept of embedding ECM directly within ECM systems manage unstructured one or more LOB screen environments is information, much of it document-centric, referred to as business application enabling. which supports or generates transactions in LOB systems. By elevating ECM in the Application enabling allows ECM to blend processes to work more closely with LOB into the routines of users, requiring little systems, organizations can take maximum training. Typically, ECM buttons appear advantage of the most innovative and labor directly on LOB screens, allowing one-click saving content technologies. retrieval of supporting documents or allowing users to initiate and monitor OCULUS – Application Enabling Creates “Single-Point-of-document-centric workflows. Access”

In the example at right, OCULUS is shown appearing from within the user’s line-of- business (LOB) system.

OCULUS allows ECM functionalities like search, view, and insert activation using hot keys or toolbar buttons placed exactly on LOB system

Figure 4 –OCULUS Application Enabling

Page 7 ECM as a Strategic Resource sector, they contain vital public records such as land deeds and birth or death records that When considering an ECM investment, an have permanent retention requirements. organization should focus first on smarter content management before the enterprise Depending on the nature of the organization, scale of the overall system. ECM systems an ECM system should be configurable to can grow quite large, but only from a solid meet governance rules for information foundation of record classification rules that redundancy, retention, and backup. Access allow them to expand without breaking. to information (either metadata or object Successful ECM projects require both senior files) from the ECM system should never be management oversight and detailed process hindered by proprietary features or non- knowledge at the departmental level. standard file formats.

Unstructured content comprises 30 to 80% Being a Good Corporate Citizen of the information required by workers to do their jobs, so most organizations already ECM systems are now a major component spend significantly at the departmental level of strategic IT planning. They must be good to manage information. The power of ECM corporate citizens – able to share their is taking that same effort and investment and information to deliver optimal work creating a coordinated, strategic resource environments for users, trusted partners, and that can benefit the overall organization. the public. Features such as scalability, adaptability, and integration are essential for Organizations can use ECM systems to an ECM system to be a platform for content redesign entire business processes, taking management both today and in the future. advantage of the new-found agility of their unstructured information. Once geographic A Successful ECM Purchase dependence on physical files is eliminated, possibilities arise for remote access by staff, What defines a successful ECM purchase trusted third parties, home/remote workers, depends on the specific requirements of the web-based information access, “push” organization. An ECM vendor offering the delivery, and faster processing times. most features is not necessarily the best fit, nor is one with the cheapest or most Supporting Business Continuity expensive product. ECM value is achieved through a balance of functionality, cost, and A growing concern of senior managers has consideration of short and long term goals. become business continuity – or how well OCULUS – The Power of ECM the organization is able to maintain essential systems through times of man-made or Once geographic dependence on natural disasters. For many organizations, physical files is eliminated, possibilities the ECM system is second only to their LOB arise for remote access by staff, trusted system in how much it “knows”. ECM third parties, home/remote workers, systems contain financial, employee, web-based information access, “push” operational, and legal data. In the public delivery, and faster processing times.

Page 8 Summary At a feature level, OCULUS delivers a comprehensive platform of imaging, The pressures to implement better records electronic document management, routing, practices have led most organizations to security, and information lifecycle investigate content management of some management that can be utilized by nearly form. Legal compliance, application any department in any organization. integration, and business continuity are just a few of the C-level concerns that drive From the management perspective, the today’s ECM implementations. intuitiveness of the OCULUS interface promotes the repurposing and sharing of For some organizations however, it is information between users in multiple areas, difficult to give ECM the same mission maximizing the ROI of any particular critical attention as their line-of-business, departmental application. The ability to network, or even email system. Should search across multiple federated repositories content technologies be purchased at the and the ability to integrate with popular line- departmental level? If not, which budgets of-business systems makes OCULUS a key should be responsible? Who will support it? component of any enterprise information What commitment is required from management strategy. management and IT personnel? With a very reasonable cost of entry and Unfortunately, many well-intentioned ECM concurrent user pricing, OCULUS is an projects fail. Some organizations settle for enterprise content management solution that quick fixes that lack scalability. Others can be quickly deployed for one application, overreact and purchase complex products and rapidly expanded to meet the needs of that simply take too long to implement. an entire organization.

A Successful ECM Project OCULUS – Enterprise Ready

Realizing enterprise level benefits from an Realizing enterprise level benefits from ECM system depends on the awareness of an ECM system depends on the senior management of the importance of the awareness of senior management of project, the appropriateness of the ECM the importance of the project, the product selected, and the ability of the appropriateness of the ECM product project team to consistently deliver selected, and the ability of the project meaningful content tools for users. team to consistently deliver meaningful content tools for users.

The OCULUS Content Management System With a very reasonable cost of entry has been evaluated by IMERGE throughout and concurrent user pricing, OCULUS its development, and it is our opinion that is an enterprise content management OCULUS presents a solid platform from solution that can be quickly deployed which to realize the enterprise benefits for one application, and rapidly highlighted in this document. expanded to meet the needs of an entire organization.

Page 9 About ROH About the Authors

ROH is a service-oriented company that Roland Harris, ICP is a Principal with believes customer service and satisfaction is IMERGE Consulting, Inc. He has over 15 paramount for continued corporate growth. years of project administration, needs As such, ROH developed the OCULUS analysis, and development experience. Mr. Document Management Suite to meet the Harris has managed major ECM initiatives needs of our clients. This humble start of for Fortune 500 companies, state OCULUS has expanded to the OCULUS government, and universities. He consults Enterprise Document Management Solution. with leading IT vendors and integrators on product and channel strategies and with end ROH has provided IT solutions to federal, user organizations on ECM technologies, state, and commercial clients since 1971. business process improvement, and Our core competencies are in the areas of implementation strategies. document management development and integration, network support, logistics, and James Just, CDIA+ is a Partner with professional contract services. ROH has IMERGE Consulting Inc. He consults on developed a “partnership” approach with business process automation, workflow clients before, during, and after product implementation, and the procurement of delivery. This approach has been invaluable appropriate technologies including in opening and maintaining communication enterprise content management systems, lines and ensuring customer satisfaction. workflow, enterprise report management, and associated products. ROH is proud of its 36-year history of customer satisfaction and plans to continue Both Mr. Just and Mr. Harris also provide this philosophy of “client partnering” user organizations with implementation methodology. Our mission is to be the oversight to insure successful deployment of premier provider of government and ECM and related technologies within scope, business solutions than enable our clients to budget and project timeline. make the most efficient use of resources. IMERGE Consulting, Inc. is North America's largest and most experienced team of experts in the fields of business process optimization and enterprise content management. IMERGE is also a leading provider of tactical education courses in records management and legal compliance.

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