ECM Shared Services: ECM COE

Enterprise Content Management (ECM) Shared Services

ECM Center of Excellence

Are you thinking about how to get the most of your ECM investment? Are you thinking about ECM shared services as the way to achieve more out of your investment? If ECM shared services is in your future then let me make a recommendation: The establishment of an ECM Center of Excellence organization is one thing that will significantly improve your company’s chances of success with that ECM Shared Services program.

So let’s back up a little and start with some background for this recommendation

With the exponential growth in the amount of unstructured content as well as compliance exposures that all that content can bring, ECM is becoming a priority within many organizations. Where in the past, content management was deployed to meet departmental needs, in certain niches within the organizations, it is now being recognized as an enterprise-wide need: An infrastructure investment rather than a niche application. If you look at ECM for enterprise deployment, it makes sense to offer all the functionality of ECM as a shared service.

When thinking of an ECM as a series of shared services, let’s not think only of the technology services (infrastructure) but human capital role services as well. What I mean is it is easy to see the technology services such as content capture, repository, discovery, compliance, and business process management services but what about ECM solution requirement gathering, solution design, process modeling, and project management services just to name a few. And don’t forget about ECM support services like technology administration, governance, management processes/practices and others.

Just like the sharing of the technology provides cost-effectiveness, sharing of the intellectual capital of the human role and support services provides that same benefit and more:

• Reduce Risk

- Leverage experienced resources and proven methodologies to help guarantee successful solutions.

- Assist customer resources who may not have experience designing and implementing solutions

- Better positioned to support corporate and data governance

• Faster Time to Market of ECM Solutions

- Jump start idea generation for the business solution and the technology implementation and keep each group from “finding their own way”.

- Expertise to drive business process improvements

What is an ECM COE?

An ECM COE is a cross-functional team with a permanent formal organizational structure. It has defined tasks, roles, responsibilities and processes for support and promoting the effective us of ECM across the organization. It is staffed with employees from the organization itself, although some roles or functions might be insourced or outsourced. The ECM COE is tasked with driving the proper use of ECM technologies throughout the organization, making it available in the appropriate forms to business users.

What does an ECM COE look like?

Let’s start off and say there is no universally accepted standard for ECM COEs, as it will vary from organization to organization. Also there is also no “silver bullet” for implementing an ECM COE within an organization. Each organization has its own vision, mission and goals for a COE and there is the organization culture that has to be embraced as well. ECM and IT governance maturity also plays a big role in how that organization will be structured. I would like to suggest instead of “what does an ECM COE look like” we take it from a different angle. Let’s look at the mission/vision and goals of a mature ECM COE and briefly talk about the key characteristics found to meet their goals. The key characteristics that will be briefly outlined below are derived by the use of an ECM COE strategy map approach levering the Norton and Kaplan Balance Score Card Framework. My intent is to dive more deeply in future posting on each of these characteristics but for now we are going to keep it at a high level.

ECM COE Vision Example

To maximize shareholder value by leveraging specialized technical resources, competencies, and infrastructure across lines of business, providing solutions to infrastructure and business problems through world class research, architecture design and the utilization of business process management, and content management technologies.

ECM COE Goals Example

As discussed above the key to a COE success is providing both technology and role based services to accomplish the following:

Utilize ECM COE Services to enable high value solutions

• Provide proven methodologies and resources for project engagements
• Identify opportunities for appropriate use of technologies
• Use the right technology to solve the problem, not the hammer looking for a nail
• Integrate the business process and the technology seamlessly
• Match the scope of the solution with the business objectives

Faster time to market of ECM enabled business solutions

• Positioned to quickly respond to

- Ever-changing business environments as they introduce new products and services

- Changing technology demands

• Remain agile from a technology/product perspective

Enable data and corporate compliance programs

• Corporate Governance Compliance

Ensure that Corporate Compliance (Records Management) is addressed around all ECM technologies

• Data Governance

Support Data Governance by embracing corporate taxonomies across all ECM technologies

Ensure ECM effectiveness across the enterprise

• Provide shared repositories
• Develop and leverage reusable services
• Broker partnerships within the enterprise
• Provide governance and best practices
• Develop synergies of concentrated talent
• Stay in front of the trends to provide just-in-time investment
• Partner with business lines to prevent false starts

ECM COE Characteristics Example

So what are some of the characteristics in a mature ECM COE to meet the above goals? This is where the Kaplan and Norton Strategy map comes into play. Without getting in to a great amount of detail (saving that so I have something to blog about later), this framework has you focus from various perspectives to meet your goals.

Customer Perspective:

To achieve the COE vision/mission how must we look to our business lines?

This perspective is a little different than the other two we will outline in this blog. Remember ECM technology does not provide any value. It is the application of the technology in a business context that provides the value. When answering this perspective question above, three of the four goals outlined were derived. The “ECM effectiveness across the enterprise” goal was and indirect goal coming from the next perspective.

COE Internal Perspective

To satisfy our business lines, at which COE process must we excel?

To answer this perspective question the following process/plan objectives were outlined

• Research new innovative ways to leverage ECM technologies
• Expand COE services use within the enterprise
• Develop/Enhance/Deployreusable COE services
• Develop best practices strategy for ECM enabling business solutions
• Timely Delivery of COE Services
• Provide corporate ECM Infrastructure
• Quality delivery of COE Services
• Provide Cost effective COE Operations
• Broker partnership with owners of ECM technologies outside the control of the COE
• Interlink with Corporate Compliance

COE Learning and Growth Perspective

To achieve my COE Vision, how must my organization learn and improve?

This perspective question is addressed with the following objectives:

• Evaluate new ECM trends, services, and products
• Provide for the expansion of ECM proficiency within COE
• Promote ECM Technology awareness for the Enterprise
• Promote the awareness of the COE strategy and measurement throughout the COE

So we have looked at a COE vision, goals, and strategy objectives of a mature COE organization. So what do you do with all this information? In future blog posting my intent is to drill down into each of the objectives in the context of the example organization to show you how each of these objectives had a cause and effect relationship with the goals described. I will talk about what measurements and targets were put in place to ensure the objectives are being met. My intent is to show you the value of taking a measurement based approach when establishing an ECM COE.

Where do I start in building an ECM COE?

Well this high-level information is a good starting point if I am an established ECM COE. What about building a COE organization? In the next blog I would like to address that thought through a 5 building block approach.

1. Identify COE Services
2. Develop an Staff Plan to deliver and maintain the COE Services
3. Identify and develop key COE Process
4. Identify key success measurements

In this building block approach I will link it back to the perspective strategy objectives outlined above to drive home the point of the importance of developing the COE strategy and measurement as you build the organization.

Summary

In today blog we have talked about the importance of an ECM COE organization model in a successful ECM Shared Services journey. Now with that said many companies believe that having an ECM COE in place will guarantee ECM program success and enable ECM business value. That logic can be flawed. Establishing the ECM COE is just the first step but the real key to success is the measurement of results and the continual improvement of processes and methodologies to drive the result needed to meet your objectives and vision. The approach outlined in this blog and future posting are based on measuring the ECM COE organization to show success and areas of improvement.

You feedback is greatly appreciated. Please let me know if you find this information helpful or have questions.