Organizations today work with a great volume and variety of data. The trick is using that information in ways that improve the performance of the organization. One example is in the oil and gas industry where the stakes are extremely high; involving millions in revenue. Government approval for exploratory oil and gas rights are awarded to companies with the best technical application. The trouble is, assembling and authoring highly complex, high-value documents like exploratory proposals and regulatory submissions – which can often be thousands of pages – is a huge challenge.
Organizations are searching for a better way. According to the AIIM 2018 State of the Industry study, 50% of the companies we surveyed were either “actively searching” for or “evaluating” new content integration tools and 49% said they were looking for better collaboration platforms.
One answer may be co-authoring. Unlike content management systems that provide a platform for file sharing, co-authoring takes a different approach by employing a single source repository where all enterprise content is managed. Concurrent co-authoring ensures that if a section is updated or content is changed, the revisions are automatically populated across the enterprise. This avoids the all too common scenario where just hours before the deadline, authors and stakeholders are still struggling to determine which content elements and drafts are the latest versions.
How can you gain advantage with a similar approach? That is the subject of the latest tip sheet from AIIM, Complex Collaboration in the Oil & Gas Industry. Check it out. I explore some lessons learned in the oil and gas industry and how all organizations can find benefit. Included are three transformational tactics to consider that will help you make the most of co-authoring.
Can you strike it rich with co-authoring? It could happen. The benefits are compelling, especially for enterprise organizations working with highly complex, high value documents.