Document Management
If Microsoft is to be believed, the
megatrends of the moment are Mobile,
Cloud, Big Data and Social. And, to
be fair, the signs are there.While IT
departments are still trying to spell
BYOD (Bring Your Own Device), the
population as a whole is now used to,
and expects, mobility. Desktop sales
are in steep decline and smartphones,
touch-laptops and tablets dominate.
Humans expect data to come to them
and software vendors now have to add
a twist of mobile to everything they
do – which can be a shock for some.
Mobility will continue to grow into an
expected aspect of business solutions.
The Cloud
The mobile revolution is very visible
– we all love toys – but the Cloud
revolution is much more disruptive
because it affects not just software
functionality but the business terms
that surround it too. The Cloud is not
just ‘hosting’; it’s a whole new approach
to software and its consumption. It
will change the speed of delivery and
software sales cycle and enable new
solutions to be assembled as IT barriers
are torn down.
From a vendor’s perspective, the
Cloud is a maturing and powerful new
enabler that is ripe for use. Customers
are still wondering what it really is, but
they will all too soon be demanding its
benefits: reduced IT barriers for projects,
Opex commercials, powerful computing
features and scaling not possible on a
normal business network. Cloud is now
in its prime time of disruption when it
is vital for vendors to embrace it and of
real interest to customers.
Cloud is a great place to collaborate
and in 2015 we will see many vertical
Cloud apps appearing that solve
collaboration challenges and an increase
in the use of self-service in the Cloud.
It means companies do not need to run
their own 24/7 server solutions; they
can work in the Cloud with integration
into back office systems.
Big Data
If Cloud is a little stratospheric, then
‘Big Data’ is more or less surreal to
our customers. Nonetheless, the new
generation of business user understands
the value and nuances of data and wants
to use data to help drive their decisions
and processes. Access to good quality
plentiful data can enhance or completely
transform solutions. For most businesses
this will not be an overnight epiphany,
but will smoulder for a few years as
disparate systems and poor data are
herded into the new Big Data world. For
2015, we’ll see an increased demand for
better and effortless reporting from a
more articulate customer.
To prepare the ground, start
organising your data – show it some
respect. Most companies are not
measuring the correct things and are
lying to themselves about the accuracy
of their data capture. 2015 will be the
year companies look to clean up their
data capture process to ensure they are
analysing information that is beneficial
to them.
Social
Meanwhile, social has caught the
attention of all businesses as a ‘new’ way
to reach and interact with prospects,
customers and competitors. Content-
focused solutions will have to offer
more value from social content, events
and software systems than ever before;
these features will start to become deal
winners. Long-standing businesses still
have a hard time understanding the
‘Social’ role in their business, but many
consultancies are doing a roaring trade
helping them make the turn, and this
activity will only increase next year.
And what of Paper?
Last year I predicted growing resentment
of the photocopier, and I am pleased
to say there were signs of this – with
sales of those ghastly machines finally
taking a downward turn. I am sorry
to say that change is happening more
Stuart Evans, chief technology officer of document
management company Invu, highlights the key trends
affecting businesses in 2015. Over the page, he explains
how organisations can get rid of paper without
compromising compliance
The future
according to Invu
slowly than I would like, but department
heads now understand that paper and
the machines that produce them must
be removed from business processes
in order to achieve greater efficiency
and competitive edge. I am begging
business leaders to accelerate the trend
and replace over-priced copiers with a
few good quality scanners and put this
clumsy era of computers for paper to
bed.
With over 100% penetration of
mobile devices in the UK, printing is
now seen as a dirty activity and is being
limited to transportation/delivery/
shop-floor use cases.We shall see
the continued battle against paper.
Clean desks and paper-free offices are
appearing in many places now and not
because of the ‘90s paperless dream,
but because of the clarity of vision of
new business owners and progressive IT
directors.
Beginning of the end for shared drives
and huge mail boxes
Many companies are still having trouble
knowing where important information is
kept. They have bloated mail boxes and
chaotic file shares that are not visible to
the business in any way – and Dropbox is
only making it worse.
In 2015 I predict that many more
companies will be shutting down their
file shares and taking control of the
information in there. These shares have
been ‘dumping’ grounds and many
business owners will be looking to
introduce easy discovery of information
and policy-driven control of access.
After all, everything you do at work is
corporate property.
Add to this the fact that 80%
of your shared drive is irrelevant,
a duplicate copy or digital rubbish.
Companies are realising that if they
discard the waste and put the remaining
quality documents into a document
management system, business
information is known and access is far
more efficient and IT money is saved.
Companies are also starting to reduce
their reliance on email – and the huge
email boxes that employees hog. Email
is like ‘digital paper’ in disguise. Email is
a slush of notifications, conversations
and unmanaged agreements that can
be moved around without anything but
the simplest of restrictions.Who’s to
say an employee won’t email something
important to the competition? Using a
company depository platform extends
a business’s control and will help you
prevent your email turning into chaos.
Most companies
are not
measuring the
correct things
and are lying
to themselves
about the
accuracy of
their data
capture.
magazine
15
01732 759725
Continued...
