The term ECM is actually an abstract and entirely unhelpful label when attributed to data systems – attempting to describe a world that is rich with tools, methods and consultants, yet equally endowed with resistance, frustration and cost. 

These days it is giving way to more contemporary pursuits such as Big Data or Content Analytics, yet those still rely on ECM to deliver a managed platform of content necessary to make sense of the domain.  Even if it’s still defined as the ECM project, part of the official definition of a “project” is that it is temporary – which flies in the face of what ECM is and should be. 

We need to start thinking of ECM as a permanent investment to sustain human behaviour and cultural change throughout an organisation and its entire operating ecosystem.  

Wait, ECM is what now?  ECM is always a “people” project, first, and by an order of magnitude compared to any spend on related projects, systems change or technology implementations.  While most technology implementations tend to skimp on the enablement budget, this phenomenon is no greater than in ECM.  For self-sustaining purposes, I feel the industry has danced around this inconvenient truth for many years.   

Let’s look at the classic signs:

• An ECM project’s genesis is usually a discrete departmental need (e.g. case management), or as an adjunct to a major platform (e.g. Oh yes, we need cheque and remittance scanning and storage for our new Accounts Receivable system.)  This quickly gets out of hand, demanding major IT integration, data migration thus generating systems duplication and cost across the business;
• An ECM platform project promises go-live in 3 months, yet is still failing to get traction years later and has diluted to just an expensive file share.  CxOs are left underwhelmed and the workforce is wondering what all the fanfare was about.  The business case dies;
• Employees are entirely confused by the repository concept; flatly refusing to move away from email attachments.  The white elephant lives;
• Months on, file shares (heck, even SharePoint sites) are as prolific as ever.

Is it that unstructured data is just too hard?  Why is there is always another project more tangible, more compelling, more "now" that wins the investment round.   So why is this, and how should we think differently? 

Enterprise Content Management itself does not exist.  It is invisible. Its benefits are abstract, its full realisation obscured by the delivered application, thus unquantifiable. This somewhat explains (not justifies) the plethora of terms, jargon, concepts, features and widgets available to try to control this data space.  Taming 80% of an organisations data correlates with a vast array of consultancies, methods, preconfigured platforms and IP that try to apply a technology solution to a people problem.

Let’s take a different tack for a moment. Human Capital Management as a discipline came about when organisations programmed people to perform repetitive tasks (akin to the factory model), to adopt productivity goals and to adapt to job design initiatives (cue the Industrial Revolution).  What this means for ECM, is that the wrong assumption is made - one that people are prepared for, and willingly adapt to new ways of working and fundamentally, already subscribe to the implied benefits of ECM.

Beyond the Hype Cycle

Gartner’s hype cycle ends at the plateau of productivity, but with ECM, what happens beyond this is more interesting. 

Business activities that involve Information creation are many and varied, as such the processes and methods are unbounded and difficult to normalise. The lifecycle of content is equally varied; consider the breadth of sources (where it’s generated and by whom), surfaces (who needs it, when and where) and sinks (where does it live, where should it be stored and for how long).

As such, it is easy for users to return to, or invent new ways of working with Information that diverge from the (normalising) productivity objectives of the ECM initiative.  The costs of not doing “information” right are incipient and near impossible to distinguish from the ambient noise of business operations.  Consider a few minutes failing to find a document, a re-write of a report in the wrong template, a clumsy ediscovery search, a lost customer letter; all are highly human-oriented.

ECM done right is equally difficult to quantify.  Such is the nature of productivity measurement and the difficultly in detecting well informed business decisions influenced by proper information usage.  In other words, when a person finds the right information first time in an efficient way, there’s no fanfare.  Maybe data growth rates in back end systems are slower than initial predictions but how is that attributable to an ECM initiative?

What are the steps?

To design the business around information, be prepared for a multi-year transform. Know that ECM is a sustaining initiative, not a project.  For good practice in Information management to be an embedded, cultural norm some very specific user experiential design work is needed.  For example: “In 2022, as a first principle; our employee on boarding process will focus on understanding our relationship networks, our Information assets and how Information flows around and within our business.  Ongoing, each team member will account for their role by their ability to find and act upon authoritative data and do their part in maintaining it.”  This is easily deconstructed into specific, measurable embedded tasks.

Incorporate Information discipline into role definitions.   Rewrite job descriptions and give data the gravitas it deserves - account for every person’s data activity in the organisational design and labour cost planning.  The ability to find, maintain and share Information Assets should be a core, embedded skill.

At the operational level, develop contemporary training materials written in personal relatable terms.  Explaining fiduciary information governance requirements top-down is impersonal and unactionable.  Rather, demonstrate transferable concepts from home life to the workplace. For example: your passport, the deed to your house or your notarised will may not be important today, but you’ll certainly want them protected and accessible and you’ll take action now to make sure that’s the case.  Model the practical tasks.

Permanently develop and invest in the Information Ecosystem.  This is a new operating model for the business, rather than a temporal project that could deliver a higher plateau of maturity.  Users will fall back to old behaviours, or adapt with workarounds without constant reinforcement clearly correlated to the expectations of the role definition. I would test constantly for Context – do you know why you are doing, what you are doing?

Do not implement feature-rich user experiences until the user behaviours are right and the user demand proves it necessary; they will thank you for the up-front focus on adoption, rather than the infliction of complex tooling.

The predominant shift that any flavour of ECM project is trying to achieve is generational sustained behavioural change for the ultimate benefit of the business, so it follows that the predominant budget is allocated to the human factors.

Data is nothing without people.

Paul Sherlock is a Senior Managing Consultant for IBM’s Digital practice.  He specialises in Information Management strategy, content analytics and technology adoption. These are his personal views.