For many years, I’ve watched people in organizations that I KNOW could benefit from content technologies politely listen to sales presentations, nod their heads, and then back away from a decision.
I find this “reluctance to commit” mysterious because most of the people that I’ve spoken with who have automated a previously paper-driven process swear by the results and wouldn’t return to life pre-content management for anything.
I’m convinced that this “reluctance to commit” is due to the fact that many on the sell-side of our industry (including AIIM at times, I’ll confess!) can’t resist talking about technology. ECM! BPM! Taxonomies! Metadata! Capture!
But that’s not what content management is about anymore. It’s about how knowledge workers (who, BTW, are expensive!) are struggling with outdated and manual processes. It’s about customers who encounter broken processes, shake their heads, and turn away, never to return. It’s about organizations who thought they were “safe” and “established” increasingly turn around and find unexpected competitors coming out of nowhere.
So let’s forget about this “content management thing” for a moment and think about how bad, manual, and paper-clogged processes impact a few real people.
Matthew processes an application for a new boat policy using a template stored on his computer desktop. The problem is, he opens an old version of the policy. The application is rejected and the closing on the new boat is delayed. Now Matthew has to go back to a frustrated client who thought his application was in the underwriting process and start all over again.
Rick fails to notice that two time-critical items have not been received on a loan application for a young couple buying their new home. The couple is moving from their “starter” because they have a baby on the way. As a result of his oversight, the closing is delayed past the current rate lock, causing the couple to incur a higher interest rate. The seller gets a better offer on the house and decides to forgo the contract by enforcing the original close date. Due to process inefficiency, the Rick loses the loan and the young couple loses the home of their dreams.
Examples of process-related pain:
Sonya is making the rounds of several rural offices that belong to her practice, carrying medical records for all the patients she is scheduled to see in the trunk of her car. Upon arriving at one of the clinics, she’s not able to find key updates on a few of the most seriously ill patients. Upon checking in with the practice, she also discovers that two emergency patients have come in, but their records are currently at another clinic. The acquisition and transfer of patient data from the other facilities results in critical time delays in patient treatment.
Examples of paper-related pain:
Ruth worries whether her company’s outdated and manual accounts receivable handling has finally caught up with her. Customer service problems abound as relationships sour due to disputes and arguments about who owes what and when it is due. A core personal metric -- DSO (Days Sales Outstanding) -- has skyrocketed, threatening her credibility with the CEO and truth be told, the viability of the company itself.
Ron has always viewed his job as more talent scout than HR administrator, and has taken great pride in his organization’s ability to continue to hire great people, even as the organization rapidly expanded. He has worried about the casualness of company processes in face of rapid growth, and now that concern has come home to roost. A fired employee claims he was treated unfairly, Ron is going to be deposed in two weeks, and he knows employee files are in bad shape.
The challenges these people face are typical of the information chaos challenges facing people in every organization. And the sad thing for organizations who ignore these challenges is that they are becoming MORE complicated every day. They are becoming more complicated because of escalating growth in the volume and variety of information your organization must digest and the ever-increasing demands (and frustrations!) of your customers and constituents.
What are you going to do about it? When?