Does Enterprise Content Management Result in Costs Reduction?
Implementing an Enterprise Content Management system is a costly exercise, involving as it does a comprehensive review of existing systems as well as current business processes. It is in this context that the question arises whether ECM results in any cost reductions and resultant ROI.
The answer is that ECM along with re-engineered business processes can produce very significant benefits, such as the following:
- Lower operating costs resulting from streamlined business processes
- Higher revenues resulting from better customer service processes
- Lower compliance and litigation costs
We look at these benefits in a little more detail in the following sections.
Streamlined Processes and Better Quality Operations
ECM makes collaborative working easier through provision several relevant tools, and makes content accessible from anywhere in the world. It also seeks to control all kinds of content, unstructured as well as structured, and stores them in a way that facilitates querying and analysis.
Better collaboration and workflow together with easy and more meaningful access to enterprise content can smoothen the flow of work. Along with re-engineering of business processes, it has the potential to speed up work and enhance productivity of workers.
These benefits are particularly noticeable in the case of document-intensive businesses such as insurance claims processing and loan approvals. Even in other industries, the quality of work is likely to be significantly improved because of the enhanced availability of decision-support information.
Higher Revenue Potential
Enterprise Content Management uses Web content extensively for achieving several goals. Web content can support the company’s brand building efforts on a worldwide scale at far less costs, and improve customer support and services. A Web presence can also enable e-commerce on the Web.
ECM can also provide some degree of integration with customer systems through an extranet thus contributing to a qualitative and quantitative improvement in customer relationship communications.
Improved customer relationships can lead to much higher satisfaction for customers, and to higher levels of continuing business with them. There would be a reduction in the number of customers leaving because of dissatisfaction with the services they receive. In turn, this can reduce the costs of searching for new customers to replace them.
Lower Cost Compliance and Speedier Litigation
ECM can build compliance into its regular systems and incorporate better business practices during business process re-engineering. Incorporating compliance requirements into regular systems can eliminate the costs of special “compliance projects” while regulation-compliant business practices can result in avoidance of penalties.
Litigation involves e-discovery of evidence and this would also include discovering unstructured content that can substantiate or disprove claims. Because Enterprise Content Management manages unstructured content, and further makes all content more easily findable, e-discovery is speeded up.
Very significant savings can be expected in these areas following a proper implementation of ECM.
Conclusion
Enterprise Content Management can lead to streamlined business processes, enhanced customer relations, lower cost compliance with regulations and speedier litigation processes. All these impact on the costs of running the business, and also on the efficiency with which business operations are carried out.