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My first reaction when I hear this question is to ask, who wants to know? The one who needs to know is the project leader for ECM initiatives. Not only should they know who it is for but why and how they need to receive it. At this point you are probably asking what I am referring to and that my friends is content.
Effective content management initiatives not only assess how to manage but also how to capture and distribute content. Who needs it? What do they need it for? What they do with it? Is there value in this content or was it simply created because it could be? How is it accessed and where does it go when they are finished? These are all critical questions to ask when assessing the needs of an organization. Each answer to these questions will have a different impact on how you proceed. The needs of your external customers, those who buy your goods and services, are different than those if your internal team. Within your organization, a road warrior will interact with content differently than those who work in the office. It doesn’t mean the information or content is different, just how it is accessed, delivered and used. Imagine accessing information through your cell phone, PDA and now devices like iPad or even Kindle or Nook. If you are pushing information out to customers like invoices or statements, how will they receive it? Will you use PDF? Will you use Fax or email?
In many cases, delivery of the content is as important if not more important to some, than the content itself. Do you travel? If so, would you prefer to be notified on your cell phone for the day you travel or your house phone? Most likely you did not even think about the answer, it would likely be your cell phone because it will be with you as opposed to the house phone which you left behind. This same scenario should be played in relation to your content. How do your customers, internal and external, want their content delivered? This is where the concept of repurposing information, comes into play. The concept that we create content once and reuse it in many ways through the creation of templates, web pages, eStatements, eInvoices and many other forms for delivery electronically.
In my view, organizations must take the appropriate time and steps to identify the content types, value and use within an organization. They look at the information flow and determine source, use, value and destination. This information in turn is used to create business requirements that are used to select a content delivery approach and technology to make it all happen. Even then, once you have accomplished your goal, go back and assess how well it works and how to make it better.
What say you? Have you developed your strategies and more importantly, to what purpose? Do you have a story to tell? I want to hear from you. |
