Go Green with Document Management

Introduction

When it comes to predicting the ROI from investing in Electronic Content Management (ECM), we can tell you one thing for certain:  doing nothing will cost you more in the long run than a strategic investment in ECM will cost.  In business, it just doesn’t pay to stick with “technology status quo” when everyone around you is embracing new ways of doing business.  To begin realizing the potential ROI of ECM for your business, first evaluate what it currently costs you to do business today. The hard costs of doing business include:  employee time, cost of processes and cash flow.  If your employees still rely on paper and paper-based processes, you’re paying more than your automated competition just to get the work done, plus you’re paying the costs of paper and storage.

An ECM solution removes paper from your business and adds technology. Digital documents, along with workflow automation, artificial intelligence and software ‘bots supercharge your processes and enable your employees to be more productive. 

Overview

Financial Services is a data-driven industry and change is here. As financial organizations struggle to stay ahead of technology challenges, they must update technology, comply with federal regulations, and keep up with ever-changing consumer demands. Digital transformation is necessary in order to stay competitive.

Introduction

How much content does your organization manage daily?  We’re talking about emails, invoices, reports, spreadsheets, documents, videos, slide decks, and all the other content forms that hold your organizational data and information.  Regardless of what your business does, content and data drive it!  Organizations thrive or fail based on their ability to effectively manage their content and make smart decisions based on the data within the content, while efficient processes enable management and staff to carry out the decisions.   

Electronic Content Management (ECM) offers a systematic approach to capture, manage, store, preserve and deliver information related to business processes. Automation tools within many modern ECM platforms allow processes to be automated, speeding results while reducing errors and costs.  When it comes to business processes, especially core business processes, accurate information and efficiency are key to organizational success.

Time for a Technology Audit

When did you last perform a technology audit of all areas of your business and business processes?  This is a simple check to monitor how you’re keeping up to date with technology.  It assesses the opportunities digital transformation has brought and can bring to your organization.  If you’re not keeping up with ever-changing technology, then your company is at risk of falling behind, if it hasn’t already.

How Schools & Colleges Improve Education with ECM

There are 140,000 educational institutions in theUnited States.  Many, if not most of them need creative ways to do more with less budget.  They need solutions that are easy-to-use and that help them automate their manual processes. That’s why schools, universities and other higher education institutions are one of the largest consumers of Enterprise Content Management (ECM).  The right ECM can help educational institutions comply with federal regulations, growing student numbers, and shrinking budgets.  For one such example, see our case study: College Improves Enrollment With ImageSilo ^®

How to Manage Paper & People in the Digital Workplace

Introduction

Despite digital technologies that have transformed -- and that continue to transform – the workplace, “traditional” technologies and problems still exist.  Paper and people are still very much a part of the business landscape.  Paper just won’t go away – it’s used to print digital documents; it arrives daily from the postal service; and it lives forever in old files. 

In fact, the merging new digital technologies with traditional ways of doing business exacerbates old problems and creates new ones as enterprises struggle with the best ways to manage both digital documents and paper documents, while staying on top of the processes that people need to carry out.

While some type of document management system is likely to help with the organization and storage of documents, unfortunately, most DMS stop there. What really needs to be accomplished is to manage the intersection of paper and digital with people and processes.  This is accomplished with through Business Process Management (BPM) based in the framework of a robust Electronic Content Management (ECM) System.

Maximize Your Workflow with Electronic Content Management

Background

The Business Dictionary defines workflow as a “progression of steps (tasks, events, interactions) that comprise a work process, involve two or more persons, and create or add value to the organization's activities. In a sequential workflow, each step is dependent on (the) occurrence of the previous step; in a parallel workflow, two or more steps can occur concurrently.

Success Agency says that poor or inefficient workflow causes…missed deadlines, low morale, angry customers, lost revenue and regulatory issues. Business Processes make up your workflow and determine whether…your workflow is efficient.

Wikipedia defines Business Processes as a collection of related, structured activities or tasks by people …which in a specific sequence…serves a particular business goal for a particular customer or customers. Business processes occur at all organizational levels and may or may not be visible to the customers.

How Efficient is Your Company? Take this Test

Most managers and business owners want their companies to run smoothly and efficiently.  Many even set up processes and procedures to aid efficiency.  But, despite the desire for efficiency, and the processes and procedures designed to aid efficiency, the sad truth is that companies across the globe lose millions every year to inefficient practices. How can this be?

Capture, Manage, Route & Automate Business Information | 5 minute read

Introduction

The amount of information businesses must process continues to increase.  Workers everywhere need a fast, effective way to capture the important information they need to do their jobs, regardless of the informational format (email, snail-mail, electronic, etc.).  Once the information is captured, workers, and the organization as a whole, must be able to manage the data safely and efficiently.  The importance of ensuring that the right data is routed to the right person at the right time cannot be underestimated. 

How would your organization improve if you could capture and extract the data you need, then route it automatically where it needs to go, when it needs to be there?  How about using integration and Robotic Process Automation (RPA) tools to improve your business processes?  Today’s technologies enable all this and more, maximizing the productivity of your entire organization.  Executives should take heed!

What You Should Know About Document Archival

Arguably, the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration may hold one of the largest collections of archived documents, including everything from historical documents to art work, veterans’ records to genealogy records, and much more.  Often times, when we think about archival documents, we think about the type of sweeping historical preservation for which the United States National Archives is known.    

But the truth is, that nearly every organization – from major corporations to small businesses -- has some type of archival documents that must be preserved:  (1) Incorporation papers, (2) Tax records, (3) Accounting files, (4) Customer information, (5) Personnel files, to name a few.  In this respect, then, most of us have our own version of document archival, which is nothing more than the storage and preservation of information.