8 Things to Consider when Using Semantics in your Information Management Strategy 1 — No One Wants Unfettered Information. Unless your IT budgets are growing faster than your enterprise content volumes, you need an approach to manage, surface and control information that does not mandate adding more storage, staff or restrictions. The systems responsible for content understand nothing about the subject or domain of information under their management. Search engines, content management systems, process engines are all blind to meaning and context. In real life the meaning of a piece of information determines its usefulness, relevance and treatment. Semantics add a layer of intelligence by describing what the content is about, using structured data – a.k.a. metadata. Metadata can be used to drive workflows, archiving policy, search, compliance, access control and discovery. 2 — All Applications can Benefit from Semantic Enrichment. Any system connected to enterprise information can use the facilities of a semantic platform. Systems like SharePoint need automatic classification facilities; Content and records management need precise metadata to run the lifecycle; search needs enhanced indices to offer quality facets; websites need SEO optimised pages to be positioned at the top; workflow needs to send information to the right…

8 Things You Need to Know About Integrating Content Management with Enterprise Processes 1 — Not all Content is Equal. Some is important, some not so much so. There’s more content that’s not important than there is important stuff. The difficulty is in sifting through all the content to find the important stuff. In many cases you can base that upon metadata—the document type, the author—these can be key indicators of important content. But often you have to have other methods. A content use tracking system can be a good way to determine important content—less used content is less important. Some content is important to the enterprise, some is important to the individual. Some content is important only in the short term. A sales proposal might be important for 30 days. A marketing plan might be important for a year. Then there is some content that is not important on a day to day basis, but is important in the long term. You might not refer to your insurance policy for 35 years, but when you need it, it might be the most important document in the company. [Note: Are you a Service Company or VAR in the Document Management…

The success of any organization’s information management (IM) strategy depends on managing three different spheres of concern: people, business processes, and technology. IM strategies often fail because they do not properly address one or more of those areas which are like three legs of a stool: remove one and the whole thing falls over. The following eight points identify some key considerations for each of these legs. Each point is a distinct, major area of activity within any large-scale IM strategy. Putting sufficient effort into all of these areas will significantly improve your degree of success, but losing focus on even one of them can have a disproportionately large and detrimental impact. 8 Information Management Strategy Factors The First Leg: People 1 — Don’t Underestimate the Challenges of Changing People’s Behavior. Changing people’s behavior is the greatest obstacle to the success of an IM strategy. Behavior changes when there is motivation to do so, and when the barriers to change are removed. If people don’t believe that changing will make them more successful or make their lives easier, they won’t do it. Even when convinced of the benefits of changing, the transition must be facilitated by removing the obstacles and…

Whether you are new to production scanning, or have been involved for many years, it’s tempting to believe that scanners have become a “commodity”—that most scanners are very much alike in design and functionality, and that choosing a scanning platform is no longer a critical decision when compared, for example, to the decision related to your capture or ECM software. Nothing could be further from the truth. Don’t shortchange the evaluation and choice of a scanner. The device you choose will be with you for many years and will be responsible for accurately capturing your paper documents efficiently and effectively. [Note: Are you a Service Company or VAR in the Document Management Space? If so, have you made your plans to attend the Document Management Service Providers Executive Forum November 4-6 in Nashville? Make your plans NOW; seats are limited.] The following 8 factors will help you think about just how different scanning platforms can be. Consider your business needs carefully before choosing the device that is right for you—you’ll be happy that you did! 8 Factors to Consider in Choosing a Production Scanning Platform 1 — It’s not Just about “Speeds and Feeds”. It’s tempting to use the “pages…