If you’re thinking about using an enterprise content management system, you probably already have an idea of what it can do for your business. But have you considered how quickly the changes will take effect? Companies often see the benefits of ECM from day one and continue to use it in the future. Implementing an ECM solution is excellent, but how do you prove it? Of course, you identify some of the benefits of implementation and measure them. But unlike measuring the return on investment of the performance itself, which only shows whether you have recovered the cost of the commission, you need to establish a baseline against which you can measure whether the situation has improved compared to before the ECM implementation. I am not suggesting that you refrain from measuring the payback of your ECM initiatives, but I would like to point out that measuring the payback only tells part of the story. Another thing to keep in mind is that measuring return on investment usually only takes a (relatively) short time after implementation, whereas identifying and measuring benefits should continue throughout the organization’s lifetime.

So, What Are The Benefits of Using ECM Solutions?

• Operating cost reductions can be achieved indirectly by reducing inventory costs.
• A correctly implemented ECM solution eliminates the creation of redundant or obsolete copies and versions of content (both physical and electronic), which directly reduces the need for inventory. Storage is cheap, but the cost of operating, maintaining and managing it is less expensive.
• The reduced storage costs directly result from storing what you need and getting rid of everything else.
• You can also directly reduce operational costs by adding image management and workflows to your ECM solution. It’s cheaper to move content within an organization electronically than to move it on paper.
• Productivity increases when the correct information gets into the right hands at the right time
• Lower e-discovery costs are an obvious benefit of an ECM solution; less content to the store means fewer lawyers to search and fewer investigations.
• Using workflows to automate low-value tasks frees up time and resources for higher-value tasks.
• These benefits are usually more difficult (but not impossible) to quantify. Tip: Estimate the number of sick days and staff turnover.
• Work-life balance improves because information workers with the right tools spend less time working overtime and more time with their families.
• Customer satisfaction is achieved because customers get what they need (and don’t want) when they need it.
• By making better and faster decisions, organizations can take advantage of opportunities and avoid unnecessary costs.
• Business continuity is enhanced by ensuring that the content the business needs is always available.
• We make the best possible decisions based on the information available at any given time. An ECM solution gives decision-makers faster access to better information.
• A well-designed and implemented ECM solution consider a backup, archiving, near and off-site storage and disaster recovery.
• If your customer service staff can immediately resolve customer issues, they will be happy and stay with you. This can be one of the most important benefits of an ECM solution in today’s high customer acquisition costs.

One of the best benefits of well-implemented ECM solutions is that they are cumulative. That means that you get more value for the same work (another advantage of ECM solutions). Don’t think that you can implement one ECM solution, and you will automatically get the benefits! The solution must be implemented in a way that supports appropriate controls and is logically designed. You also need to develop a plan to achieve the benefits and stick to it. Finally, it is essential to understand that an ECM solution that is not integrated with the business or other systems (e.g. an enterprise information system) will not provide as many benefits as an ECM solution as part of its overall information management strategy.

Do you need help with your ECM and Documentum™ system? Get in touch with Synepsis Consulting today!