Digital Landfill

Key Recommendations -- Winning the Paper Wars

Get the full report HERE.  (Free for now; will soon be member-restricted content.)

Offices have always been magnets for paper.  Even if internal records are scanned and archived electronically, external forces throw more paper at us, particularly the forms and documents that kick off our core processes. To fight the paper wars, managers need to take the up-front decision that paper-free is the way to go, and mold that policy into key business initiatives and process re-designs.

Here are recommendations from AIIM's Analyst, Doug Miles, on getting started with a paper reduction war:

1. Question long-held assumptions that paper is essential in your business for legal compliance. Research others in your industry.  Consult your auditors.
2. Highlight the role that paper-free processes can play in your key business improvement initiatives.
3. Audit those existing processes that utilize scanning and electronic workflows. Ensure that they are taking full advantage of the possibilities of OCR, data capture and integration with core enterprise processes.
4. Look at the range of capture systems in use with a view to rationalizing around a single, highly capable system, able to service multiple applications.
5. Position that central system right at the door as a digital mailroom, defending offices from paper and ensuring the quickest possible conversion to electronic.
6. If you are unsure of your expertise, or need some external influence to kick-start paper-free processes, consult a document process outsourcer and tap into their experience in your industry.
7. Extend the paper-free concept further to the point of origination, whether that is a branch office, a shop or the mobile devices of your employees and customers.
8. Above all, question how your organization is going to remain competitive in a mobile, always on, dispersed-workforce world if it clings to its paper-laden processes. Most businesses have hundreds of processes. It will be a long journey, but the benefits are clear, and the sooner you get started the faster you will realize the returns.

Get the full report HERE.  (Free for now; will soon be member-restricted content.)

 

 

 It's been a busy summer.

A couple of months ago, we set out to create some new skills development courses, focused on some of the new and emerging challenges facing information professionals.  I'm pleased to report that they are ready!

AIIM’s training courses have been defined by our 80,000-member community, to provide essential and practical skills development for solving today’s information management challenges. These credentials are now in demand by leading employers worldwide.

So here they are...drumroll, please...

PROCESS IMPROVEMENT

AIIM’s Process Improvement course provides you with a systematic approach to:

• analyze your requirements
• standardize and automate the RIGHT processes
• select the right technology
• plan for user training and adoption

The Process Improvement course is comprised of 11 modules that may be purchased individually or as a complete package leading to the AIIM Process Improvement Practitioner designation that is earned upon successful passing of the exam. Once purchased, the course module(s), supporting materials, and exam are accessible online and on demand from AIIM’s training portal for 6 months.

For details on the course content, download our data sheet.

INFORMATION GOVERNANCE

AIIM’s Information Governance course provides you with a systematic approach for managing information assets and ensuring regulatory compliance.  The information is applicable across all industries and is independent of any particular technology or vendor solution.

The Information Governance course is comprised of 10 modules that may be purchased individually or as a complete package leading to the AIIM Information Governance Practitioner designation that is earned upon successful passing of the exam. Once purchased, the course module(s), supporting materials, and exam are accessible online and on demand from AIIM’s training portal for 6 months.

For details on the course content, download our data sheet.

MANAGING CONTENT IN THE CLOUD

AIIM’s Managing Content in the Cloud course provides you with a systematic and secure approach to breaking down monolithic enterprise solutions into more “app-like” solutions that can be deployed quickly and independent of platform. The course information is applicable across all industries and is agnostic toward any particular technology or vendor solution.

The Managing Content in the Cloud course is comprised of 5 modules that may be purchased individually or as a complete package. Once purchased, the course module(s), and supporting materials  are accessible online and on demand from AIIM’s training portal for 6 months.

For details on the course content, download our data sheet. 

MANAGING RECORDS AND EDISCOVERY WITH SHAREPOINT 2013

AIIM’s Managing Records & eDiscovery with SharePoint 2013 provides you with a systematic approach for designing an effective SharePoint 2013 environment for managing records and eDiscovery. The course reflects the changes inherent in SharePoint 2013, and is applicable across all industries. (SharePoint is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation).

The Managing Records & eDiscovery with SharePoint 2013 course is comprised of 10 modules that may be purchased individually or as a complete package leading to the AIIM Managing Records & eDiscovery with SharePoint 2013 Practitioner designation that is earned upon successful passing of the exam. Once purchased, the course module(s), supporting materials, and exam are accessible online and on demand from AIIM’s training portal for up to 6 months.

For details on the course content, download our data sheet. 

-----

NOTE:  On occasion, all of the above courses are also offered in a live, instructor-led virtual classroom format. Our enrollment page will indicate when/if such a class has been scheduled.

One of the things that I am asked fairly often is when AIIM training and AIIM certification content will be available for off-line access.  I can tell you that in the next few months we will be undergoing a system upgrade to address this issue, but in the meantime if you're on an android device here is a little trick I discovered that allows off-line access to the CIP videos (like on an airplane, for example) without using one of those copy/paste the URL add-ons that always somehow feel a little bit shady.

It basically utilizes the "Watch Later" feature of YouTube videos.  I believe this feature was designed to essentially bookmark videos for later viewing -- but while maintaining an online connection.  On any YouTube video you can find a little clock at the bottom in the nav bar and if you click on this it will save it to your "Watch Later" list.  Click on "Watch Later" at some future point and all of those videos will be highlighted for you.

That still doesn't solve the problem of off-line access, though -- except for some reason for android devices.  If you have an android device the Watch Later content -- if you click "preload Watch Later" videos in your settings -- can be viewed off-line.  Let me show you some screenshots for accessing the CIP videos.

If you search on "aiiminfocert" in the YouTube search bar it will take you to all of the YouTube videos that constitute the CIP content.  If you click on the three little dots in the upper right-hand corner of any video an "Add to Watch Later" button will pop up.  Just click on it.

Note that you do have to give the video a chance to download for a little while so give it 30 seconds or so (if it's a video 4 or 5 minutes long) to download.

When you come back later click on the Watch Later button in your navigation.  

Once you click on Watch Later you will see a screen like this.  The little green arrow in the lower right-hand corner will tell you whether the video was downloaded correctly.  Just click on it and away you go. You can study the CIP content to your heart's content on your next airplane ride or at the beach.  

Also, for those who may have missed it previously, there is an official name CIP study guide available for free. Just click HERE.  You can also download it from the iStore by just searching on "AIIM CIP Study Guide" in the books section. It looks particularly good on an iPad, and includes all of the CIP PowerPoint presentations within the book itself.

-----

Did you know we have a new course on Process Improvement, one on Information Governance (should be ready tomorrow), another on Managing Content in the Cloud, and the one on Managing Records and Ediscovery in SharePoint 2013?  Check them out.

Key Findings -- Winning the Paper Wars

Get the full report HERE.  (Free for now; will soon be member-restricted content.)

1. 74% of respondents have business improvement campaigns that would beneft from paper-free initiatives. Only 24% have a specific policy or maxim to "drive paper out of the business."
2. The amount of paper flowing through business processes is decreasing in 41% of organizations. But for 19% it is actually increasing.
3. On average, respondents feel that driving paper out of the process would improve speed of response to customers, citizens or staff by a factor of 4.0x. Those with more experience in paper-free processes report an even greater speed-up of 4.6x.
4. On average, respondents feel that driving paper out of the process would improve the productivity of process staff by 29.7%, rising to 35.4% for those with more experience.
5. Two-thirds of those adopting paper-free processes report a payback within 18 months. 50% see payback in a single 12-month budgeting period.
6. HR, accounts payable and customer correspondence are the most popular paper-free processes, with 70% reporting that AP and AR have "Excellent" or "Good" ROI.  “Contracts and procurement” is also proving to be a successful candidate.
7. Physical signatures and legal admissibility are given as the biggest paper-free concerns among staff, with Legal Counsel, and to an extent Finance, being most resistant. Yet overall, even Legal Counsel are 37% pro and 26% against, with most line-of-business and C-levels broadly in favor.
8. 31% scan pre-process, with 10% using digital mailrooms. 26% use paper in the process and then scan for archive after the process. Consistent across all sizes of business, digital mailroom is twice as popular in Europe.
9. Nearly a third of organizations are processing electronic documents, forms and PDFs separately from scanned paper. 20% print them out - including 13% who print them out and then scan them back into the capture system.
10. As regards benefts of paper-free processes, "Better records for audit trail or compliance" beats "Faster response and improved productivity." Better monitoring of process status and workfow is also a signifcant beneft.
11. 15% are currently using smart devices to scan or capture forms - more likely by their own employees than by customers
12. Spend in the next 12 months is set to increase strongly for mobile capture, with OCR, BPM+workfow and AP+AR also set for a steady increase.  Spending on scanners, MFPs and outsourcing will generally be flat, although outsourcing is set for a steady increase outside of North America.

Get the full report HERE.  (Free for now; will soon be member-restricted content.)

If I were running a content management company -- I know, a frightening proposition -- I would spend every R&D dollar I could find on 1) user experience; 2) ease of implementation; and 3) mobile accessibility on any device.  And forget adding more cool features and functions until I solved those basic needs.

I was reminded how important this is -- especially in selling solutions to executives like me who are aggressive users of technology, but not necessarily deeply competent technically -- by an experience last night.

I use a simple Google Form to handle one of the most pain-in-the-neck processes that I manage -- scheduling a conference call for executives on my Board who are on calendaring systems that are not accessible to the "scheduling" function within mine.  I used to send around many, many recursive emails asking, "How about this time?" "How about that time?" "OK, that doesn't work for Bill, let's try 10 am." "Oh, now that doesn't work for Jim."

So I just use a simple form for that.  It takes 3 minutes to set up.  Last night, I set it up when I was tired, and set it up with radio buttons (you need to make a single choice) rather check boxes (you can check off mutliple options) -- oops.  This morning, I corrected the form -- on my phone, and in 30 seconds -- and all was right with the world.

So what is so noteworthy about this simple process that I thought it worthy of a blog post:

1. Even a CEO can do it.
2. I don't have to talk to IT.
3. I can do it on any platform I own (and being a gadget guy, I own a lot).

Now I KNOW transactional content management at scale is WAY WAY more complex than my little Board scheduling problem. 

But my point is that the expectations from the consumer world carry over into enterprise world.  From a usability perspective, I expect my enterprise systems to meet the three tests above:  1) the CEO can do it; 2) He/she can do it without IT; and 3) He/she can do it on any platform.  

When I use our association management systems, it drives me nuts beause the UI looks like it is a relic from the era of DOS programming. Even though it has great functionality, I want sometimes to throw it out the window because, frankly, it is ugly. And I can't access it on my phone. And it seems to generate more conversations than I would like with IT (not that they aren't wonderful people...)

So, content management companies, my advice is to be ruthless in simplifying the user experience.   Make your solutions easy to implement. Make them work on anything I use.  Focus on solutions even a CEO could love.  Think about Mikey in the Life cereal commercials ("He likes it! He likes it!").  And forget about everything else for now. 

We're going to be talking about some of these issues at our upcoming AIIM Seminar series -- in this series, looking at mobile and social from a governance perspective.  Check them out -- they're free!

 

A cool story -- Long-time AIIM member Mike Epstein will be featured on the ABC Show Extreme Weight Loss at 8 pm on August 13.  

It's a pretty inspirational journey.  Here is a link to a blog post about Mike's journey to give you an idea.

You can also find information on his -- .

Check it out.