The usual benefits of cloud – flexibility, scalability, no hardware and application maintenance and anywhere access for authorised users – makes the architecture particularly relevant for deploying and managing an Enterprise Content Management (ECM) platform. As well as removing the need for up-front capital investment, the approach ensures the ECM can scale as the organisation’s requirements change over time.

To achieve the clear business benefits offered by a cloud-based ECM platform, your organisation needs to follow six steps. These are:

1. Establish clear goals and metrics
   The first step is arguably the most important. The organisation must be clear on exactly why it is deploying an ECM solution, and the business benefits it expects to derive from it. These goals should be documented and shared with all staff. Each goal should then be related to specific processes within the organisation and linked to established KPIs to ensure progress can be measured. Later, these KPIs can be made visible via real-time dashboards and leaders can effectively coach the activities and behaviours that dictate success towards executing the defined overall strategy.

2. Understand the enterprise
   Next, attention should be given to understanding exactly how the organisation functions. Does it operate using a centralised or decentralised model? Are there any regional or mobile worker needs that may differ from those within head office? Close attention should also be given to existing workflows and how the new cloud-based ECM platform will support them. Proper analysis and planning at this stage will ensure the new platform closely matches real-world requirements.

3. Communicate, communicate, communicate
   Large-scale change can sometimes result in confusion for staff. Established work patterns and processes are likely to be altered, requiring consultation, training and ongoing support. When it comes to an ECM platform that touches all parts of the organisation, constant communication about the project is vital. Coming from the very top, this communication must clearly explain the goals of the project and the benefits it will deliver to all staff in their particular day-to-day activities.

Senior staff must also understand the wider implications of the project. For example, the company CFO needs to realise that the shift will reduce capital expenditure, but necessitates a stream of operating expenditure. The IT team needs to understand how workflows will change and their role in managing the external cloud platform provider. Also, legal counsel should be aware of service-level agreements, data privacy and protection mechanisms.

4. Create a Cloud Governance strategy
   Companies need to ensure that any move to a cloud platform doesn’t breach the rules or laws under which their organisation operates. Common concerns include compliance relating to privacy and data handling. In some sectors, it is a requirement that data be housed within Australia rather than in overseas data centres and this could have an impact on the cloud partner that is chosen for the project. Companies also need a framework for making decisions and a process for executing against those decisions quickly. A cloud governance strategy establishes rules on how to set priorities for enhancements or changes to the technology based on the value that change brings to the global business.

5. Put the right team in place
   As with any project, talent is a huge factor in determining the success of an ECM implementation. Identify the talent you’ll need for key roles such as a dedicated system administrator, project managers, business analysts and developers. Having a flexible team that can objectively operate both inside and outside the organisation can make the difference between a project being delivered successfully on time and on budget…or not.

6. Define change management
   It is critical to win the support of end-users. Therefore, strong education and coaching programs will be needed on an ongoing basis to build advocacy from the ground-up. Don’t assume, however, that one approach can be used across the company. Cultural differences, languages and regional needs are likely to demand localised education programs. It’s a good idea to seek input from the regions as you prepare your change management plans.

During the past few years, the cloud has become a mainstream option for many businesses. As confidence in the architecture grows, more and more companies are seeking to take efficiency and competitive advantage to the next level. There’s plenty to gain from an ECM cloud deployment and, by following these steps, your company will be well placed to achieve the maximum benefits.

ABOUT BOB DUNN//

Bob Dunn is the Australia country manager for Hyland Software, creator of the OnBase enterprise content management (ECM) solution. Dunn has been part of the ECM industry for more than 25 years, and has held various positions during his tenure, with a focus on providing business process automation solutions.

Many businesses operating in Australasia today are complex organisations that have grown and expanded their capabilities over time and their IT systems have grown with them.

As a result, a large number of organisations are now faced with what have become very ‘siloed’ IT infrastructures with a range of different systems in place to serve different areas of the organisation. These siloes can make it difficult to share data between different parts of the organisation and place a significant burden on IT teams. They create inefficient workflows, added costs for the organisation and, most likely customer dissatisfaction.

Adopting an integrated approach
Rather than continuing to grapple with a siloed and disparate IT infrastructure, a more efficient approach is to implement a single enterprise content management system (ECM). An ECM system centralises data from all systems across the organisation, and makes it available to staff as required. It can store all organisational content, whether it be documents, emails, faxes, videos, or any other data.

An important decision when choosing an ECM system is to ensure it is built on a single enterprise information platform. The benefit of this for an organisation is ease and speed of implementation, rapid user uptake, and, reduced time and costs for ongoing management of the system.

Implementing an ECM system is attractive for cost-conscious organisations because it can be done without the need to decommission or replace existing computer systems. Instead, the ECM system can act as an electronic backbone that tightly ties those systems together. ECM has proven very effective when installed on an organisation’s own infrastructure or in a cloud deployment for a monthly fee reducing capital outlay.

It is critical that an ECM system integrates with an organisation’s existing business systems, whether they be ERP, accounting, HR, claims, lending, electronic medical record, student information or other critical systems, as these drive an organisation’s core business processes.

By integrating an ECM system with needed applications, organisations will be able to:

• Eliminate switching between screens to find the right information – Users gain instant access to related content stored in the ECM system without leaving their business application.
• Ease the transition to new software – Because users can access content within the ECM system directly from their other applications, training is minimal. User acceptance also increases because staff can access needed content from the familiar applications.
• Reduce manual data entry – An ECM system should instantly update your business applications as soon as it receives information, and in turn, other applications can update the information stored in the ECM system.

Everything from customer information in electronic and scanned paper forms to back-office applications such as CRM, ERP, Microsoft Outlook and SharePoint can be connected to the ECM system. The result is a single, fully connected infrastructure that supports activity across the organisation.

Alternatively, if a decision is taken to decommission ageing systems, the data stored within them can readily be shifted into the ECM system.

Another important consideration for busy organisations is that that the roll out out of an ECM system does not have to be completed as a single, large project. Systems in individual departments can be added over time, and ECM can be integrated as needed by the individual organisation.

Benefits delivered
For many organisations, an ECM can deliver significant benefits in terms of better customer service, improved efficiency and reduced operational costs.

An ECM allows all content to be held in a single, integrated system. Data silos that previously existed within the organisation are removed.

As a result, management overheads are reduced and many complex and unwieldy processes are removed. This, in turn, frees up IT resources and staff to focus on other projects that can deliver more long-term value to the organisation.

An ECM also improves organisational data security by reducing the number of locations in which sensitive information is held. Instead of it being spread across multiple systems and databases it is retained in a single and centralised store, thereby minimising the chances of loss or misuse.

From a corporate perspective, making such a fundamental change to internal IT systems will also reduce risk. A centralised data store can ensure that an overall picture of exactly what is going on across the organisation is available at all times. This can be a particularly significant benefit when it comes to compliance issues.

Using an ECM to manage data also opens up the opportunity of shifting some functions to a cloud-based platform over time. Using cloud resources can significantly improve overall IT flexibility while at the same time reducing operational costs.

Importantly, the path to an ECM can be gradual. A good first step is to convert as much information as possible into digital form. Once this has been completed, the information can then be added to the ECM and more effectively used and managed.

An ECM has a lot to offer Australasian business. In the never-ending quest for improved business processes and more efficient service delivery, it has a critical part to play.

ABOUT BOB DUNN//

Bob Dunn is the Australia country manager for Hyland Software, creator of the OnBase enterprise content management (ECM) solution. Dunn has been part of the ECM industry for more than 25 years, and has held various positions during his tenure, with a focus on providing business process automation solutions.