Information Management Can Drive Digital Transformation Effort
Founder, Director of Avaali Solutions Pvt Ltd, Ms. Srividya Kannan’s article published in online version of CXO Today. The article was carried out in the online version.
Automating unstructured content and workflows in business processes is critical for the survival of businesses. Most organizations are already on some digital transformation journey. Even though enterprises proclaim that spends on digital transformation initiatives has increased, as per recent research, close to 34% of organizations have reported that most of their business content is still referenced and filed as paper. Only one of three have digitized or automated accounts payable, accounts receivable or vendor management processes. 65% of enterprises still use paper for orders, booking forms, contracts and such other documentation.
In general, digital transformation should be thought of as a journey rather than a specific project. Along this journey there are specific milestones that serve as a guidance in terms of the progress that has been made and what kind of goals have been met in the process. A number of enterprises prefer to focus on their operational processes in their digital journey, eliminating chaotic environments by implementing new systems, processes and enabling mobile access. The way in which enterprises manage their information, often called information management practices is often the area of focus given that visibility and governance to information is crucial to bring down the cycle time to process, reduce costs and risks.
Searching and finding content when needed, by the right user in a secure environment is easier said that done. This means that enterprises must continually look to eliminate ROT (Redundant, Outdated, Trivial) content that in fact increases process complexity and hampers compliance. Securing content and controlling access is non-negotiable in enterprises, and therefore must have a fair share of attention when enterprises think digital. For instance, enterprises typically use email for approvals and collaboration. The number of attachments only keep growing, bringing with it administration issues. Findability of information is always a challenge even during an audit. The entire lifecycle of information right from creation to archiving and safe disposition and everything in between must be governed and executed in a way that enables enterprises to truly deliver process agility.
Forward thinking organizations are implementing information management solutions as a foundational step to digital transformation. Right from having complete visibility to the content within processes to collaboration, workflows, search and retrieval to archiving and safe disposition, they are putting in place a set of processes, tools and methodologies that help them drive process agility and governance. Information Management applications are specifically being designed to function on mobile devices using their operating systems and interfacing with business processes and internal applications.
The workforce of today needs access to information on any device at any time, need to work collaboratively and interact with each other seamlessly. The digital transformation journey is not only about technology but also processes, people and business rules. Therefore, cross functional teams must come together and identify initiative that look at the whole picture and not just an abstract. Information Management is the lifeblood and foundation to digital, as unstructured content lifecycle is the underlying pillar to automate business processes and create a truly paperless environment where risks and governance are adequately addressed.