5 Reasons We Need a New Approach to Content Management

How did we get here, and where do we go now?

In the late 1990s, Enterprise Content Management became a mainstream technology (at least for large organizations) by first focusing on early adopters eager to automate high-value, mission-critical, and document-intensive processes critical to gaining competitive advantage. Organizations (and the suppliers who supported them) next applied ECM platforms to solving core back-office automation challenges – like accounts payable, invoice processing, contracts management, and HR administration. Over time, we began to think that ultimately, there would be a convergence in an organization around a single ECM platform.

The reality turned out to be something very different. There are information management disrupters all around us! Here are a few:

1. Organizations are realize that the single repository dream – if it ever was a dream – is over.
2. SaaS and low-code process solutions are creating the potential of a new generation of silos on steroids.
3. When it comes to legacy ECM, organizations can’t just throw the baby out with the bathwater.
4. New and modern cloud-based solutions can’t just be slapped on to what you have now.
5. Saving everything still isn’t the right answer.

Organizations need to look strategically at these kinds of information federation questions:

1. How can you access valuable content in a legacy system and still sunset the application itself?
2. Is it possible to create a common interface for all content regardless of new or legacy?
3. Is it possible to have virtual access to archived content in multiple repositories and real-time conversion of only the data that is needed?
4. Is it possible to reduce storage management costs across multiple platforms and repositories – and still preserve access to these archives when needed?
5. How can you access content from multiple repositories within an application and not create multiple versions of the same content?
6. How can you begin to understand – and manage – all of the “dark data” that is hidden away in long-neglected or abandoned applications and repositories?

You might be interested in a new Tip Sheet I've put together - 5 Reasons We Need a New Approach to Content Management.