Designing a Document Management Strategy
Article #3:
Where does a Document Strategy Fit in the Corporate Picture?
(Read more articles in this series)
By Kevin Craine
My last column began the examination of processes and methodologies available to design and implement an enterprise document strategy. We explored the three-step “baseline assessment” prescribed in my book, Designing a Document Management Strategy, as a way to “get located” in terms of the fundamental measures, pressures and constraints within our organization.
This week we ask the question:
Where does a document strategy fit in the corporate picture?
Documents play a significant role in nearly every business strategy or initiative. Therefore, documents should be given the same attention in strategic planning as other important aspects of business such as marketing, finance, human resources and information technology. A document strategy that is sensibly linked to organizational objectives can mean the difference between the success and failure of other important business plans.
It is no longer enough for organizations to plan and implement strategies in isolation from the Document. A document strategy can bring alignment and success to their entire agenda of business strategies and objectives. Consider these three major strategies within an organization:
- Corporate strategy
- Information Technology (IT) strategy
- Document strategy
These strategies are highly interdependent and important in the overall success of any enterprise, but their misalignment can result in increased costs, decreased profits and unsatisfied customers.
Corporate Strategy
Since before the Industrial Age, the bottom-line corporate objective has been to make a profit. But making a profit is no longer the only aspect of doing business that is important. Today’s firms recognize that information is a vital asset and key to finding real return from investments in technology, facilities and people. While profit will remain paramount, these additional aspects of corporate strategy play a crucial role in determining the proper alignment between information technology and document strategies.
IT Strategy
Information technology (IT) strategies in the past have been somewhat single minded; focused on simply gathering, processing and outputting data. But as the line between data and documents became less distinct, data processing professionals unsuspectingly entered the world of documents. A gap developed between the advancement of information technology and the effectiveness and efficiencies of corporate documents. Data is just bits and bytes. Who is looking at things from a document perspective?
Document Strategy
What single aspect of business is critical to profitability yet “owned” by no one? The answer is: the Document. After all, most organizations have an IT director, but how many have a “document director?” The result may be a proliferation of documents that do not effectively serve corporate objectives.
To see the consequences, imagine a corporate strategy that includes these three basic elements:
- Increase Revenue
- Decrease Costs
- Increase Customer Satisfaction
If, for example, customer documents are daunting or confusing, and communication is unclear, what will be the effect on these basic corporate objectives? Customers may either be late with their payments or not pay at all. The result: revenue will decrease. Customers may call the company for clarification. The result: costs will increase. Customers may become frustrated and angry about the way the company does business. The result: satisfaction will decrease. What will result in the end is a total reversal of the fundamental corporate objectives.
Consider the consequences when looking at internal processes.
In this case, corporate strategy may be:
- Decrease Effort
- Increase Productivity
- Reduce Labor (headcount)
If internal documents are misleading, hard to find, outdated or inaccurate, what will be the effect on work processes? More effort will be required and productivity will decrease. Eventually, additional staff may be needed; as a result headcount will increase. Once again: a total reversal of corporate objectives.
Alignment of Strategies
The essential questions are:
- What is your corporate strategy and how can your document strategy support it?
- What IT strategies are needed to enable both?
How we manage documents has a great deal to do with how we manage business. A document strategy can help make documents part of the success of a business rather than one of the problems.
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