dti content management blog

Deploying Content Services to the Enterprise

By Ryan White on June 3, 2011 

Companies interested an enterprise class content management solution have a difficult question to answer; “How do we deploy ECM services to the enterprise?” I was sitting with the Director of Applications for a large retail chain in the south east discussing this question today.  With a new CIO on board and a long list of strategic initiatives, he is in an interesting situation.  Many of the strategic initiatives are focused on improving business processes, reducing costs, and improving corporate visibility into the business at large. 

We had recently completed a very successful expansion of their Oracle IPM system to deliver AP workflow to a new part of the organization.  As the CIO spoke at the project close event, it occurred to me that the problems he wanted addressed in his large strategic initiatives, would require the support of content services, yet setting an enterprise standard for content management was not one of the strategic initiatives.

The director and I reached the conclusion that in order to meet his goals of an enterprise standard for content management, we needed to work methodically through the organization to deliver key wins, publicize those wins to build momentum, and be diligent working with the business to prevent one off solutions.

Other clients that have taken enterprise content management as a strategic initiative have succeeded by following a few guiding principles: 

1. Executive support – Support from an executive stake holder will go a long way to ensure the project momentum carries through the initial roll out.  Too many implementations stall with the conclusion of the first push as companies stop to take a breath after the initial go live.  
2. Win Early and often – Since each department is unique in its requirements for content management, find a highly visible starting point with the right mind set (culture for change and desire for improvement), and a high probability for success.  You can tackle the most complex workflows and custom tailored solutions after you have proven that the technology works for you, but I guarantee that if the first roll out goes wrong, an enterprise deployment becomes much more difficult.
3. Publicize the win – make sure the rest of the company knows about the success and continued success of the deployment.  Several companies have offered prizes for ‘green’ projects and I’ve even heard of a Ms. Document Imaging Pageant!  Make sure the rest of the company knows about your investment and its capabilities. Without awareness, you could continue to see more one-off solutions pop up across the company.

Following these guidelines will help ensure you deliver more than a departmental solution of an enterprise class technology.  It does take persistence, but once you reach a critical mass of support, you can reach the goals of content consolidation, standardization, and an ROI even greater than expected.

You can view our  webinar on accounts payable automation and includes a demonstration on how Oracle Content Management is integrated with PeopleSoft.