ECM Model

So in the previous post we talked about ECM and created some definitions. In this post I would like to address a pictorial view of ECM within a model that I use to describe ECM and the various relationship components.

As you will see in the diagram the outer box is the domain of Business Strategy and Operating Plans. Here is where the organisation has a reason for being and will have outcomes that it is trying to achieve.

Within the box from the top is the People, Process and Technology component. Note the direction of the arrows in the diagram they are important. This show us that People interact with Process and that the role of technology is to support the process that the people are interacting with. This vertical view is broadly the organisation in three boxes.

Next we look at content and the "flow" of this through the organisation. Note that are are three phases of the content, Manage, Process and Deliver. Note the arrows again. You cannot deliver the content unless it has first been managed and processed. You cannot process the content unless it has been managed. Again we see that technology support the flow of the content and that people at the top are the ones that interact and make it all work.

We can draw some basic assumptions from this model.

• People at the top are the most important.
• For any ECM deliver technology is only one-third of the overall solution.
• Any ECM solution delivery should be top down driven, starting with people first
• For any enterprise approach process is in the heart of the solution

What is Content?

In most of the presentation and discussions that I have, I continued to be surprised (or not) by the general lack of understanding of what content is all about.

I guess this stems from the mental models that have been burnt into us over the years. What does content mean to you?

If you are a web guy or gal is it the stuff in the web page, or the web page itself? Or is it the word document that you are working on? Is it the whole document including the format or only the stuff that matters in the midst of the colours and format?

What about the data that you see on the screen in the transactional system such as the order entry application or the ERP system? Well all of them count and in all cases there is content.

The issue that we have is that content is so bound with the application or the format that it is hard to leverage, and further more to this as people often have different operational boundaries the content is though of in context to the application and format not to the business process or to the flow of how the content should move through the organisation. But content in its own right is not the be all and end all, as if the content cannot be placed in context then it has no meaning.

We can draw lessons from the web world and see that much has been done to separate content from format, but how do we manage, process and deliver this context contextually across the business processes and in and out of the formats that are required while also maintaining control of it.

People, Process and Technology

I spent the last couple of days locked in a bubble talking to people about stuff that we sell. In this bubble I presented to a group around website redevelopment and why people seem to do it.

As usual I place the WCM part within the wider context of ECM and started by looking into the organisation and how it fits together from a very high level. Organisations exist for a reason and generally we can call this reason the business driver(s). From this reason we then get People. People come together to bring to life the reason or the driver. The interaction of the people we can call process.

So people drive process to deliver to the reason. Technology has evolved over time to support or enable the processes to help people do their jobs. Or at least that is the way that it should work. But does it really?

If we consider people, process and technology we can see that technology is only one third of the overall picture. Yet how much gets spent on this third, and how many projects start with this as the focus?

So what is ECM?

Enterprise Content Management (ECM) is a combination of methods, tools and technologies that enable an organisation to manage, process and deliver content across the enterprise.

Within the definition above there is flow and meaning. The flow of methods, tools and technologies indicates that the organisation must approach ECM in a structured way and that methodology comes first.

Methods or methodology gives the organisation a structured process that can be followed to help the organisation understand what processes are important and what content is necessary to be managed relative to the key business processes. It also delivers the high level framework under which all the other activities are delivered.

Tools such as information audits, information strategy, classification structures, metadata structures and controlled vocabularies are used throughout you methodology to bring to life the key areas of content management and will provide a bridge so that when you come to select and deploy ECM technologies you are able to do so within a defined context.

What's all the Buzz?

So this blog is all about my thoughts and expression around do with Enterprise Content Management (ECM). The main purpose is a selfish one.

Firstly, this is a domain neutral place where I can store information and my thoughts to come back to in the future. Sort of like having the electronic pieces of paper on the desk placed in a zone where they are always handy.

Secondly, you might get a piece of information that you find useful and help you along the way.

ECM is a vast discussion area that it has so many cross overs in technologies and disciplines that it is almost never ending. Hope you enjoy.