5 Really Good Reasons to Migrate to a New ECM System

by Ron Brown 

If you've ever undertaken an Enterprise Content Management migration, I don't have to tell you there's a lot of work involved.   If you haven't had the experience, this article is for you. First, a promise, I won't bury you in technical details.  We'll save that for another day.

I'll focus on questions you'll want answered; things that improve your chances for success. By no means, is this article a complete or list; for every question asked, there will be a ton more.  Think of this as a starting point, to get the mind working in the right direction. I'm 100 percent sure you'll come up with questions on your own, and that's exactly what I'd expect.   

Some of the preliminary questions you'll want answered are: What type of documents your system holds? Where do they originate, and how do you receive them?  Who owns them? How will you index them, so you can find them when needed? Who retrieves them, and why? What actions can users perform on them - Create, Retrieve, Update, and Delete?  How long do you need to keep them?  Are there regulatory, compliance rules that apply to them?  And that's just a start. 

Along the way, you'll have to make some decision for your new system. Do all the documents really need migrated to the new system? Can some be archived? Can any be legally destroyed?  If documents can be archived or destroyed, do you do that before you migrate, or migrate first, and then archive or destroy.  Do you have a Records Management system, or a Records Manager, that can help you make some of these decisions?  These are just a few that come to mind. 

If targeted for migration, do the documents need to be converted to another format, like PDF? Is there personally identifiable information (PII) in the documents or the metadata that needs to be removed or  redacted to make your system compliant?  Does the metadata meet the needs of the changing organization, or should it be modified?  Is document versioning required, and do you need to retain all versions? Does it need to be placed into hierarchical folders? This list seems endless. 

Even after a migration, there’s work to do.  Managing the change from old to new system needs to be well planned to increase user acceptance.  Training and supporting old, and new, users on the system, analyzing and working out inconsistencies that surfaced after the migration, planning and implementing enhancements that weren't possible with the old system, and integrating with LOB systems will keep you busy for months, or years, to come.

With all the planning, all the effort, and all the expense, why would anyone want to put themselves through a migration?  As it turns out, there are some very good reasons.  Here are my top five reasons to migrate to a new ECM system: 

1. System Unstable, or Not Scalable Today’s ECM systems are integrated into multiple business processes and are mission critical. Systems that are unstable, or that perform poorly during peak usage, will cause major problems for your organization. 

 

System's down again.... Starbucks? 

In a recent AIIM (www.aiim.org) survey, 45% of respondents said their organization would experience "serious business disruptions within one hour of system outage". What if your system was out of service for several hours, or days, or weeks? Would your customers be willing to wait?  Would your organization survive?  If your backup plan is "No worries, we'll just revert to paper", you may want to re-think your back-up plan.  The fact is that your workers are now skilled in digital content and your new employees never used paper to begin with.  When the system goes down, your skilled resources won't know how to use paper, even if they knew where to find it.  If your system is sized properly, the infrastructure is tuned to meet requirements, but your system routinely fails under load, you may want to start looking for a new ECM system before someone starts looking for your replacement.   

2. End of Support As with all technologies, ECM software vendors periodically announce End of Support (EOS).  This is typically due to older technology or platform, lack of up-to-date development tools, and poor or inadequate security. Because unsupported software means no more access to vendor support, no more updates or product development, and no more fixes, patches or security upgrades, most organizations just won't take the risk. Vendors often offer replacement solutions, but not always.  Typically ample time is given to all customers to investigate, plan and implement a replacement strategy.   It's important to start early.  Once official EOS takes occurs, you'll find yourself relying on third-party support vendors, or hiring contract developers for custom fixes. Either way, this should be considered a temporary solution, until you can implement and migrate to a new, and typically more comprehensive ECM solution. 

3. Silos and Barriers 

Thanks for your order, it'll be there Monday!
        Sorry, not in the system, I'm putting it on hold... 

If you’ve worked in Banking, Finance or Insurance, or for that matter any large organization, no doubt you’ve seen multiple ECM systems within the environment.  I've seen as many as three to five ECM systems running independently of one another in the same company.  When this occurs, it's not uncommon to find the same document, or documents, stored multiple times in these disparate systems.  This duplication adds unnecessary costs, and risks, to the organization. While managing your own departmental system may seem like a benefit, it typically causes barriers between business units that would benefit from sharing business information that could help you improve your operation, improve your customer relationships, and grow your business. I can't tell you haw many times I've called a business or services providers, only to be passed around to different departments asking me the same questions.   

4. Proprietary or Obsolete File Format  Early ECM providers thought it would be a great idea

to use proprietary file formats for the content stored in their systems. While some of those formats served a practical purpose, like using overlays on data to save storage space, innovations in storage technology, coupled with higher compression and reduced storage costs make those ideas unnecessary. Further, CMIS, like ODBC for database technology, foster interoperability that provides users with flexibility to share data between systems, no matter what vendor you choose. If your system requires a propriety file format, you are not CMIS compliant. 



5. Sensitive or Personally Identifiable Information With the onslaught of security breaches, identity theft, the dark web, and the ever-increasing need for information security, companies struggle to prevent their

I just need a few pieces of information to verify you're identity... 
Give me your full name, DOB, SSN, DL#, address with zip code,  
mother's maiden name, fathers's place of birth, first car you drove, 
phone number - area code first, favorite pet, high school's name, 
email address, childhood hero, favorite restaurant, 4-digit pin... 

customers from becoming victims. Recently, lawmakers have paid a great deal of attention to protecting PII. HIPAA, the Social Security Number Protection Act of 2005 and the Identity Theft Protection Act of 2005 are just a few of the laws in the US. Many systems still use information classified as PII, such as SSN, as metadata to locate specific customer files. Others have no provision for hiding PII from users that don’t need access to PII for their specific business purpose. This adds unnecessary risk to the customer, and ultimately to the organization who doesn't protect the information.

Don't miss my next Post "6 More Really Good Reasons to Migrate to a New ECM System" - coming soon...

Like what you see?  Need more information?  Email me at Contentron@gmail.com.  I'd be glad to hear from you!  Thanks for stopping by....