The Transformation of Enterprise Content Management (ECM)
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The document discusses the changing role of information in organizations and how enterprise content management (ECM) needs to transform to address these changes. Specifically, it notes that information is becoming more dispersed, dynamic, and time-sensitive, originating from many different channels. As a result, ECM needs to expand its scope to provide a comprehensive information management platform that offers integrated security, the ability to ingest and aggregate information from various sources rapidly, and federated search across different locations and content stores.
The Transformation of Enterprise Content Management (ECM)
- 1. polices all become critical.Any information transmitted across the Internet unencrypted rapidly becomes someone else’s. An infor- mation management platform needs to pro- vide a sliding-scale approach to security, easily adjusting security levels across con- tent stores without requiring major updates to metadata and policies. 2 Information ingestion on a massive .scale. Information ingestion has been traditionally focused on devices intended for capture (high-volume scanners, multi- function devices, task-oriented devices, etc.). Today, 87% of all mobile phones include cameras. The total mobile phone sales for 2010 exceeded 1.2 billion units, according to Gartner Research. Of those, 50% meet or exceed five megapixels, and some of the largest manufacturers (Sony Ericsson, Nokia and Samsung) released 12- megapixel phones in 2010, making them extremely capable capture devices. Busi- nesses like Chase Bank have already enabled iPhone4 users to process checks instantly with a click of their camera phones. Other major banks such as Bank of America and Citibank are quickly follow- ing suit. Imagine the hundreds to thousands of near-simultaneous submissions from dis- parate devices delivered at Internet speed needing to be indexed, categorized and incorporated into a business process, not to mention the growth of ingestion of infor- mation already in electronic form. 3 Federated search. Search related to .ECM has typically focused on records, with some capability to include limited struc- tured data sources. With the disaggregation of information spanning structured and unstructured data, the traditional approach is no longer sufficient. The ability to federate across different locations, content stores and data types has become a fundamental requirement. 4 Integratedinformationcommunication . and distribution channels. There was a time when publishing to a Web portal and distribution by email were sufficient. Not any more, at least not if organizations are intent on leveraging information for com- petitive advantage. Customer communica- tion has become a web of interactions combining online, email and cross-channel communication, all designed to improve customer service and affinity. New social channels are also being leveraged along with rich media to create engaging customer experiences and to “reach them where they live.”An information management platform provides the capabilities to keep communi- cation consistent, coordinated and com- pelling while personalizing the customer experience across print, Web, email and social communication channels. 5 Incorporate cloud information stores. .High-value information is being gener- ated by cloud applications and stored outside the common IT infrastructure. Organizations still need to manage and control this informa- tion as part of their information management policies.Aninformationmanagementplatform can integrate with or federate cloud content stores to provide overall management and use of the information. 6 Seamless retention from active to .archive. Compliance requirements— whether directed by the business or by outside regulatory and industry bodies— continue to drive the need to apply retention periods and automate migration of informa- tion from one storage state to another. ECM systems typically focus on storage of active information—information that can be accessed in a split second and is part of cur- rent projects, workflows or processes. Backup and information archives typically deal with information and data that is not in immediate use but may be called up some time in the future or relegated to offline stor- age. An information management platform can apply retention policies seamlessly across both active and archived information. 7 Extensible information collaboration . services. Collaboration has expanded beyond the traditional model of desktops collaborating around a set of documents either synchronously or asynchronously. Today col- laboration initiates from anywhere. The broad useofhandsets,laptops,iPadsandothermobile devices is leveraging new social information forms, channels and collaborative models. An informationmanagementplatformneedstopro- vide an open customizable approach to incor- poratenewformsofcollaborationintoprojects, workflows and business processes while keep- ing the information under management. It’stimetoevaluatehowyourcurrentECM strategy and infrastructure is poised to provide an information management platform capital- izing on the new information order to create competitive advantage for your business. T The Transformation of ECM Capitalizing on the New Information Order The role of information in organizations is under constant change. What was simply a casually drafted email or document one day can become a critical corporate asset overnight simply through a change in busi- ness policy, regulatory update or a legal challenge to the business. Information types are rapidly expanding in relevance to the enterprise as well. Social content like wikis and blogs or rich media (video and audio) not originally considered critical to the busi- ness are becoming the primary ways to communicate information both within enterprises and with customers and business partners. More companies are using cloud and SaaS applications for rapid implementation of new services and to save costs. Corporations are usingnewsocialmediachannelssuchasTwit- ter,GoogleBuzz,Facebookandothersforcus- tomer communications and outreach. The result: information is getting increasingly dis- aggregated. Enterprise content management (ECM) is no longer just about documents, images and other well-known assets. It is now about the broader information cloud which is much more dynamic and much more diffi- cult to manage. The number of channels that generate information and distribute it has expanded beyond the traditional ECM def- initions. Information itself is increasingly time-sensitive and shorter in form requiring rapid ingestion, dynamic aggregation and federation of sources to achieve timely busi- ness results. It’s a new era for enterprise information both in scope and in impact. This means tra- ditional ECM needs to transform as well and expand in scope to provide a compre- hensive information management platform. Here are a few of the key requirements: 1 End-to-end integrated information .security. The nightmare for any com- pany is being part of the next “WikiLeaks” release, such as UBS Bank, which found itself exposed when details on more than 2,000 clients and more than 40 politicians’ trans- actions and private documents were made public. Integrated security combining advanced rights management, managed access through strong authentication, secur- ing of information both at rest and in motion with encryption and federation of security March 2011S14 KMWorld By Scott Clinton, Director of Product Marketing and Business Development, EMC Corporation