One of the important things on EMC implementation is change management, The implementation of several ECM technologies such as document management, records management, workflow, web content management, content security and portals is always a challenge as it touches on the way every knowledge worker performs day to day work activities. In large organizations with geographical spread it becomes an even greater challenge. Therefore, such a challenging ECM implementation mandate the introduction of significant change at organizational structure, people skills and IT infrastructure.
Change in organizational structure is mandated by the need to have "Owners" at process level that have an authority level empowering them to make decisions across the entire process, and change is also mandated by the need to create a new job position for "Records Officers". Change at people skill level is mandated by the need for knowledge workers to learn how to participate in a structured workflow process and how to collaborate with others in portal discussion threads within boundaries of new information governance rules. Change at IT infrastructure level is mandated by the introduction of new systems that require a higher standard of connectivity across all office locations, and is also mandated by the need to obtain licensing for new products in document management, records management and workflow technologies.
Managing change is a continuous process which should span the entire project lifecycle. The following change management tasks have been identified and should be implemented and monitored throughout the lifecycle of the project to ensure that the adverse consequences of change are being avoided and/or treated:
1.Assessment of information maturity within the organization to help project sponsors establish a sense of urgency for the need for change.
2.Align project objectives and deliverables with organizational Strategic Change Drivers such as emerging markets, compliance with new regulations, need for cost reduction etc.
3.Establish awareness of Information Governance across all knowledge workers to help ensure proper application of content management policies and procedures.
4.Getting business users actively involved in requirements definition for taxonomy and metadata will also help reduce their resistance level to new ECM technologies.
5.Early identification of user needs for training and for manuals of operation and administration of the ECM system, and proper planning of training activities.
6.Prototyping will enable early realization of business benefits and thus rallying in more support from senior management.
7.Deployment in a Pilot environment where there is a small community of users, preferably familiar with the use of technology, increases chances for success and user confidence.
8.Load ECM system with relevant and adequate data to be referenced by knowledge workers when the system goes into deployment, will not give users an excuse to stop using the system.
9.Implement user Incentive Schemes based on their level of utilization of the ECM system.
10.Capture negative comments and deal with them responsibly and honestly to defuse negativity regarding the ECM system.
Many ECM projects are doomed to failure due to improper management of change and because customers pass it to the vendor for convenience. The responsibility of managing change is best kept under the control of the organization in which change take place. Vendors of Content Management systems can only assist in identifying change tasks and advice on the methodology of managing change, however, they cannot possibly be in control of implementation of the change process within the organization. The customer must be in driver's seat(Jaljouli, 2010).
3. Conclusion
ECM is helpful tools and method to provide data and information for an organization or for a company. The data and information that was generated by business growth mostly unorganized or unstructured (unstructured content), EMC will organize, collect, and selected properly so that easy to deliver if needed by people (employee in an organization) who need the data.
Hard to understand what the differences between ECM and EDM.The main difference from ECM and EDM are as below:
·EDM designed specifically for data contained in structured documents and files.
·ECM are more about the logical organization and improved accessibility of various types of structured and unstructured electronic information. This includes not only the kinds of files that are managed by document management applications, but a broader range of digital assets.
EMC implementation should be planned properly, start with Business assessment and designing EMC system, gathering data, technical implementation, testing the system and user acceptance test. The benefit of properly implemented ECM solutions is decisions made faster can enable organizations to take advantage of opportunities and avoid unnecessary costs.
4. References
1.http://searchwinit.techtarget.com/definition/enterprise-content-management-ECM
2.Turban,Erfaim,. Volonino, Linda. : Information Technology for Management , Enterprise Content Management, 2010, 7, p. 103
4.Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/5839972
6.http://www.itecj.com/blog/352-change-management-implementation-enterprise-content-management-ecm
