There has been a lot of discussion on our ECM and Portal Blogs concerning the need for a formal Taxonomy. I guess I am a traditionalist and still see the need for a taxonomy. A Taxonomy can address two aspects of finding information;
Using content/ asset types and metadata to find information with the highest accuracy. The goal is always to find that one document or piece of information that will answer the question or help make a better informed decision
Visually navigating to the set of content that contains the information that you are looking for. While visual navigation may not be as useful with some of the new social media functionality (Wikis, Blogs, and Microblogs), it is still a critiacl aspect for casual users whlo want to find information stored in formal structures, such folders or other containers.
I am attending the IBM Smart Governance Conference this week. This is my second Governance Council meeting and I am thrilled to see that Council has evolved to look at governance not only from a data perspective, but now understands that unstructured information is equally important to a good governance program.
The discussions this week have centered around the fact that decisions are based on both structured and unstructured information. The need to insure that this information is accurate is critical to making good decisions. A sound governance program will address the policies and procedures required to insure that the information maintains its integrity and authenticity so that the users of the information can be assured that the information is reliable and can be used to drive the business direction.
I recently published an article in AIIM on SharePoint Governance. Successful SharePoint implementations are less about the technology and more about the business functions that are delivered to the end users. To insure that the delivery of the SharePoint solution is consistent and meets the needs of the users, a robust governance program should be established. Governance programs are one of those areas that can cover different topics depending on the focus of the organization. Successful SharePoint solutions require a governance program that covers the business aspect of managing the SharePoint implementation
Just completed a webinar that addressed the automation of the paper capture and integration into SharePoint. This is an interesting concept as it is critical to the conversion of a paper based system into an electronic, paperless office. I am not a believer that the paperless can actually be accomplished but by integrating a capture solution into your ECM strategy, you can come closer and have most of your information available in an electronic format. This will allow for an information architecture that facilitates the ease of retrieval and ultimately the ability to use turn the information into knowledge.
The papeless office is a direction that most Companies are striivng for, but is this really achievable. Join me for the AIIM Webinar on capturing documents and managing them in SharePoint
Stop the paper chase. You, and your users, need information. And you need it fast. You have capture tools. You have SharePoint. To maximize efficiency, you need to bring those tools together. Whether a floor of filing cabinets or a desktop full of paper, you need to get access to your content when using SharePoint. Join us to learn why intelligent document capture is critical to your SharePoint environment – ensuring better access to information, reducing paper-handling costs, streamlining business processes, and controlling access to information.
In this session, we’ll discuss how to automatically capture document and data and export to SharePoint, convert paper into digital content that’s instantly searchable and accessible from SharePoint, and eliminate the costs and inefficiencies associated with paper processing
Running a successful business today requires the ability to make fast informed decisions that could result in a financial windfall or the collapse of a company. Information required to make these decisions does not exist in a single location or even in a single format. Corporate information can exist in many operational systems throughout an organization. These systems contain the information that is used to run the company. Information can be both structured and unstructured. Information can exist in:
Databases (structured information) that are the underlying pinning of the operational systems, such as the financial, manufacturing and human resource systems.
Documents (unstructured information) that are used to record the organization’s processes or communicate the financial state of the company.
Join us for a Webinar on October 22, 2009 at 1:00pm ET to discuss the implementation of an Enterprise Information Management solution..
This Webinar will present an approach for creating an Enterprise Information Management (EIM) strategy that fosters the ability to collect both structured and unstructured information when faced with the need to make a decision. To do this, users will need to leverage technology in ways that extend past their typical uses. These technologies must provide a seamless, role based set of tools that let users be more efficient in completing their key tasks. The Webinar will provide the attendees with a review of the top EIM vendors; their approaches, their technology suites and overarching strategies.
Does your organization have a collaboration strategy? OK, so there’s no one true answer that can encompass every company. However, read this article for how to get the best strategy for YOU going.
So what does the future hold for Enterprise Content Management? For those following this industry, I am sure that you have noticed that the differences between the ECM vendors have narrowed. Each of the top vendors supply similar functionality, with their differentiation coming in the solutions they provide and the industries they target. From a feature, function perspective, the industry has commoditized. With the emergence of Microsoft SharePoint as an ECM solution, the cost to purchase and implement ECM has also has dropped tremendously making it difficult to maintain the revenue levels garnered by the traditional ECM vendors and System Integrators. So what is the next frontier for content management? I propose that the next evolution will be Enterprise Information Management (EIM). EIM is the convergence of structured and unstructured information to make complex decisions.
Many ECM projects fail not because the technology implementation was flawed or the business process did not provide the desired enhancements, but because the end users found ways around the system. ECM projects suffer from the ‘It was easier before’ syndrome. By this I am referring to fact that there may actually be more steps to accomplish the same functionality, as perceived by the end user. A good example of this is the simple function of creating a document. Before the ECM solution, the end user simply created the document in Word and stored it on their local drive or a shared drive. They were free to choose a file name that made the most sense to them. But with the ECM solution, they have to save the document to the ECM repository with a naming structure that has been predefined for search optimization and they have to enter attributes that describe the document. This can be viewed as a cumbersome process with very little benefits, especially if they rarely need to find documents that they have not authored.
I was in a customer presentation the other day and was asked about the importance of a taxonomy to the successful implementation of an ECM solution. Why do you need a taxonomy and what value does it bring to the project? Taxonomy provides the structure to the ECM solution that enables the users to easily find the information that they need to make a business decision. There are two basic components to a good taxonomy, a well defined and intuitive folder structure and a set of content types and associated attributes. I usually break the taxonomy into these two components to best address two distinctly different audiences; the “experts” and the “novices”. The “experts” are the group that uses the system on a daily basis and thus will use the advance features to find information. The “novices” are the group that may only use the system once a month or once a year to find that one critical item they need to make a decision.
