Integration Expertise Key To Enterprise Content Solutions
"Content management at the departmental level is mature," asserts Melany Smith, VP of product management for LEGATO Systems, Inc. (Mountain View, CA). "Where it enters the enterprise is through integration with line-of-business applications. Integrations with applications from vendors such as Lawson and SAP are becoming commonplace. The next wave will include multiple applications and new ones such as geographically based systems." These line-of-business applications can include CRM (customer relationship management), ERP (enterprise resource planning), accounting, or specialized vertical applications. The Forrester report, which includes results of a survey of executives at Global 3500 companies, found that cross-departmental content collaboration is considered a pressing need by about half of the respondents.
A.J. Hyland, president and CEO of Hyland Software, Inc. (Westlake, OH), notes the same trend. "VARs need to develop a practice around line-of-business integration, especially ERP, CRM, and account processing," he comments. "They should be able to work closely with the vendor on that as well. If a reseller doesn't have the capital to develop that integration, he should persuade his vendor that he can attack a lucrative market if the vendor will provide the tools. Responsible vendors will listen because it's in the best interest of the industry. It creates services revenue and upsell opportunities. As VARs start tying into more business processes, their annual service and support as well as maintenance revenue increases."
The ability to integrate with legacy systems is also imperative for VARs who want to take their content management solutions beyond the departmental level. More than 40% of the companies included in Forrester's survey say legacy integration will continue to be a priority through 2004. "In general, there is an increased demand for legacy integration, mainly because end user customers expect more than point solutions," says Smith. "For instance, we're seeing more demand to take the print streams from mainframes and store them in an ECM [enterprise content management] system. This includes integration with mainframes as well as workflow-enabling them."
The ability to tie content to mission-critical applications improves customer service and increases employee efficiency. As a result, end users are beginning to recognize content as an enterprise solution rather than a departmental one. "CIOs are realizing that content management is a core infrastructure investment, and it needs to be integrated into other segments of their businesses," says Hyland. "More and more often, they are keeping that in mind when selecting a vendor." Though these experts agree that most content management purchases continue to be tactical and driven by immediate need, many more end users are looking at the long-term implications of purchasing an ECM platform that can be modified to meet evolving needs.
Increase Functionality, Decrease Demands On End Users
The demand for greater technical complexity is accompanied by a demand for ease of use. The Forrester survey found that more than half of the respondents cited better usability as one of their most pressing content management needs. Image-enabling applications such as CRM are one step toward improving access, but the trend seems to be toward opening access to data to all users who need it. "Often end users would like one repository for storing data so they only have one place to search," says Smith. Again, the Forrester report concurs, with integration of multiple repositories on the wish lists of nearly 40% of respondents. The challenge is dealing with the diverse data sources in most enterprises.
"We see scenarios from not wanting to rip and replace to mergers and acquisitions where organizations may eventually want to have one system," says Deb Taufen, director of ECM marketing at IBM (Armonk, NY). "Right now they just want everybody to have access to content. It may not all reside in their systems. For example, content providers in the life sciences industry offer genetic databases. Users may want to put a search out but would have to sign on to all the different systems. The promise for the future is that you can save time by searching multiple internal and external sources."
Universal access may be desirable, but, according to the Forrester study, a universal interface is not. The study says that forcing a common interface on users could worsen usability issues rather than solve them. Allowing users to access content through the applications most closely related to their job functions is one option. Another is adding portal integration to an existing content management portfolio. "You can set up a portal according to the user's role and include information relevant to that user," says Taufen. "The portal can be set up with a workbasket and built-in search for other sources or collaborative IM [instant messaging]. It's a great consultative opportunity for integrators who look at content as part of the overall information that has to be delivered."
Gather Skills In Life Cycle Management, Disaster Planning
The higher profile role of content in the enterprise creates a need for products and services that do more than simply archive and retrieve data and documents. In order to take advantage of these new opportunities, VARs need to begin developing skill sets around life cycle management and disaster recovery. "Life cycle management allows an administrator to apply rules for electronic information and make them consistent with company policy and laws," explains Taufen. "It also allows for destruction when the content expires. When a rules engine is used for this purpose, those policies can be carried out across multiple applications. Whether it's e-mail or document management, the same rules would apply." Life cycle management can help end users better manage their storage requirements and automate compliance with the regulatory requirements that face nearly every industry.
Taufen also advises VARs to be able to provide a strategy for disaster recovery through mirroring or replication. "Disaster planning has become more common at the time of planning a content management system instead of as an afterthought," Smith points out. "A VAR has to be able to go into that first meeting showing that the system can meet regulatory requirements, that the data is protected, and that there is 24/7 accessibility for customer service applications."
According to the Forrester report, the ability to address integration issues and deal with diverse content types will open higher-end opportunities for integrators. Companies planning to spend one million dollars or more on content management in 2004 are most affected by these issues. This same group will also be most willing to invest in customization and other services from data management experts.