Information Management as-a-Service

Christopher Wynder, Ph.D

Director of Client Services

ThinkDox, Inc.

@ChrisW_thinkdox

chrisw@thinkdox.com

Matching IM strategy to business goals

Overview

ThinkDox INC.

Solving the digital divide

problemWhat can you do to get started

Understanding how information

flows between users

Burst

Lift

Mortar

Information management has fundamentally changed

Burn

Fuel

Com. P2P

Fire Control

Pre-BYOD Today

ThinkDox INC.

Patterns of HOW work gets done have changed

Strictly Org. Chart Nodal

ThinkDox INC. Model adapted from Dion Hinchcliffe @dionhinchcliffe; IT models

Image from: http://gmdd.shgmo.org/Computational-

Biology/ANAP/ANAP_V1.1/help/anap-userguide/manual.html

• Information passed upwards.

• Access to information was strictly tied to

position in hierarchy.

• Ability to action on information tied to

hierarchy

• Information passed between nodes based on

relationships within organization.

• Ability to action on information tied to role

and project.

How information is conveyed and used is no longer tied to artifacts

Users do not have “silo’ed” work days where they handle just records or handle just documents.

Documents contain of information that is

used for particular business processes.

There is NO INHERENT VALUE in the

container.

Records are a subclass of documents that

must be treated differently. Specifically, they

must be maintained in the format that

conveyed the information. i.e. the

container has value.

9am

DATE

?

5pm

The average user’s day

ERP/CRM

ThinkDox INC.

The days of separate information sources is over

Organization-owned content stores

Departmental

controlled

content stores

Resource driven view of the

corporate information

Individual corporate

stores

Individual personal data

DATE

?

Service driven view of

corporate information

ERP/CRM

ERP/CRM

It’s not a tech problem- it is a alignment problem

ThinkDox LLC.

Solving the digital divide

problemPreparing for success

How to ensure that you meet the

actual needs of the organization

Most records handling issues are systemic not antagonistic

Use and understanding of “e”

records technology

“Technology agnostic problems”

The technical issues typically stem from user habits

Collaboration

System of record

Access control

Templates

PDF generation as designed

strips metadata and is not linked

to a form type in SoR

Admin kept copy

of template on

HD No one actually used

SharePoint for

version control

Template

IT had tied

metadata to

“live” copy

What we think happens

Add

The reality of how processes actually get done

Add

Effective ECM is service

driven:

It is embedded into normal work

processes

Provides time-savings to system

users

Aligns with organization strategy

and goals

How to ensure that you meet the

actual needs of the organization

Moving process into the digital forum

ThinkDox LLC.

Understanding how information

flows between usersPreparing for success

Current practices in information management are designed

based on content control rather than information movement

• Rigid

organization-

enforced

taxonomy.

• Retention

rules

• Disposition

workflow

• Audit of

deletion

schedules

Capture Organize UseArchive or

retire

How it is

generated does

not matter in a

paper world. The

physical artifact

is “handed over”

Use is

controlled

via

ownership

of artifact.

Nodal working patterns mean that workers path through information sources looks chaotic

User journey though information source

Finance

Supporting Nodal working patterns

An architect plans the design of information:

Brings structure to unstructured sources.

Provides easy access to information users already know about.

Requires existing user compliance and understanding of information sources.

A gardener sets the parameters of access:

Single point of entry across multiple types of

information based on process.

Provides access to a wide variety of information.

Requires understanding of how work gets done.

ThinkDox INC.

Refresh scheduleMix of content types

The Information GardenHarvest schedule

ThinkDox INC.

Integrate the Information Architecture into the garden at the “plot” level

• Re-Think Information architecture

to be “feature” of each

information source

• The financial system and the

ECM holding the POs will

have different IA

• Both however need to be

intuitive to the userIT

Efficiency

Risk

Mitigation

Business

Efficiency

IA is simply the balancing of

efficiency(s) and risk mitigation

Generate a information lifecycle for different asset classes

Capture Organize UseArchive or

retireECM

lifecycle

User

information

lifecycle

Generate Record UseForget or

store

?

Organize Re-Organize

ECM works best when

the information is

organized at capture

The un-asked question-”How do

users get work done?”

This is key to how users expect to

find information

Users lack the

tools to

appropriately

archive content

Re-use leads to lots

of local copies.

Addressing the “Why” – understand how each user works

Admin

Student

records

Facilities

management

User Journey of a Admin’s day

Check

information

Get

Approval

Confirm

Updates

Request

updates

Review

orders

Send

ordersRequest

approval

Draft

orders

Analysis:

The nature of approvals is the real issue.

Facilities management is completely done through accounting

software. Has no ability to capture “wet signatures”

Approver wants to just send an email.

Focus on cross application metadata to ensure information findability

The right two pieces of process information will allow users to find the right documents

Weak recall

Object

=

Weak recall

Who

=

Strong

recall=

People are hard wired to remember WHO they:

Work with

Communicated with

Made the original

Matching access to resources to working patterns

9am

DATE

?

5pm

The average user’s day

How many different

applications are they

using

How many times are they

breaking compliance

ERP/CRM

Generate-

How do users generate content-what are the filetypes,

what are the key applications

Record

Where is the information from that content being

recorded? Office documents, applications

Organize

What is the point of the content? Is the information

being shared? Is it for revenue generation? Does it

need to be moved to other people?

When

..is the information source used again. What do users

really need, what can you securely provide them.

Categorize the descriptors based on GROW fields

Contract

negotiations

Billing

Contracts

Secondary

office

Remote

CRM logs

Surveys

Direct

interactionLocation

financials

Call list

Daily

activities

Calendar

Hand-over

Workgroup

Potential

taxonomy

descriptors

(GROW)

These could

be the drop-

down terms

Wide

category

Remember this initial goal is about gaining control

over documents. The long term goal is a living set of

descriptors that mirror business practices.

These are probably too specific.

Additional personas will generalize

these further to make them usable.

Insight

Day-to-

day

operations

Content

creation

Archive

Marketing

Financial

Competitive

Hiring processes

A/P processes

Time-off

External comm.

User store

Group “junk drawer”

Legal

Long term value

Use

Archive

Run-off

Context

Multi-

department

use

Key forward

thinking information

Value of content increases

Num

ber

of

nodes

for

conte

nt

incr

ease

s

Information management is no longer about choosing the right Application it is about ensuring information is served to users appropriately.

Financial Services

IT service

Resource planning

Business process

ERP, “S drive”, excel

Applications

ATL Data center,

local SAN,

web service

Infrastructure

User care about:

1. How do I get to

the right App?

2. Where is the

information I

need to complete

my task?

3. How do I find

that information?

IT should know:

1. Which

application(s)

management wants

users to use.

2. Who should have

access to all the

applications in the

process

3. Compliance risk of

information

managed

Management should know:

Cost of application

Cost of maintaining

application(s)

IT should measure:

Usage of App

Cost of contracts

CIO should know:

Cost of infrastructure

Cost of IT time to maintain

IT should control:

Usage of bulk storage for

high risk processes

Information Management a-a-S is a multi-project move

Information risk

and valueEnterprise wide policies

ArchivingDisposition, growth control

Information

OrganizationBuild a taxonomy

Storage managementEnterprise wide storage control

through deletion

The key to controlling growth is translating management practices

into governance policies

Management Governance Long term ROI

Poli

cy T

ech

Move from here to IMaaS carefully

ThinkDox INC.

What is shaping ECM and

information management in

general

Managing IMaaSHow to ensure that you meet the

actual needs of the organization

Design an information platform for long term use

Public

Access

Home

Mobile

Client

Web

Access

API?

Data Lake?

Connector?

User access?

Vendor consolidation?

ECM

Your security plan needs to change to protect your information

ThinkDox INC.

Web Access

Home

AD

Mobile Client

Client

Web Access

Home

AD

Mobile Client

ClientECM

Build your IM-aaS iterativelyPrincipals of Kanban

1. Visualize Work

• By creating a visual model of your work and workflow, you can observe the flow of work moving through your Kanban system.

2. Limit Work in Process

• You can also avoid problems caused by task switching and reduce the need to constantly reprioritize items.

3. Focus on Flow

• By using work-in-process (WIP) limits and developing team-driven policies, you can optimize your Kanban system to improve the smooth flow of work, collect metrics to analyze flow, and even get leading indicators of future problems by analyzing the flow of work.

4. Continuous Improvement

• Once your Kanban system is in place, it becomes the cornerstone for a culture of continuous improvement. Teams measure their effectiveness by tracking flow, quality, throughput, lead times and more.

Use Kanban as a starting point

Kanban is from Toyota’s “Just-in-Time”

model of supply management.

This required precise knowledge of when

parts were needed, how many and what

the rate of replenishment was for any

given part.

Similarly, from a users perspective

information is only useful at the time of

use- and out of date data is wasteful.

Unless you are an academic- you likely

want the information in order to dosomething now.

Alignment and mapping of goals and how-to

User perspective

What do users need to

know to perform their

job?

Is it tied to a process or

just general knowledge?

Does it expire? Or change

based on time or location?

Enterprise

perspective

What are the required

permissions for users to get

their job done?

Does access to information

enhance process efficiency?

Where is necessary

information for a process

coming from?

Don’t impede day-to-day operations

User perspective

Don’t re-build process in

version 1.0.

Aggressively push for

more access to base

information.

Limit the need for

application switching for

information only purposes

Enterprise

perspective

Design simple,

implementable versions

that fix a pain point.

Think information

movement first, technical

integration second.

Limit the number of apps

that manage processes

ECM

Look to cull “extra” people-steps

User perspective

Collect data, focus on

changes that reduce

tedious steps.

Embed compliance

steps into automation.

Design for “peak

laziness”

Enterprise

perspective

Focus on efficiency of

whole process.

Be willing to pay for

automation to be done

correctly.

Provide ECM/BPM team

will full access to

compliance needs

ECM

Have a plan for version 3.0 before completing 1.0

User perspective

Have a transparent

roadmap for what you

are building towards.

Keep assuming there are

steps that can be

removed from users.

Stage the transfer of user

driven to machine

performed steps so as to

be seamless.

Enterprise

perspective

Place a premium on

process efficiency as a

design element

Engage process users to

reduce the headaches of

change.

Automate steps that

impede information

movement.

ECM

Dept. level

Balance strategy with reality

Org. level

System of

interaction

System of

record

Access control

Findability

Archive

Ad hoc/

Fileshare

Holistic planning for information management

Infrastructure planning

Requirement gathering

Implementation

Integrated retention and disposition schedules

Understanding trends in content generation

Information management strategy

Technological support for managing information

DO NOT underestimate the role of engagement as part of the move

to IMaaS

Over-explain the need for user

involvement in the move to IMaaS

project.

Provide a mechanism for feedback.

Schedule and keep to the schedule of

feedback.

Nothing kills a ECM project faster

than silence from the ECM team.

Communicate

Build collaborative partnerships

with the business when shaping the

changes in related processes;

employee on-boarding, retire/fire,

financial reporting.

Create a clear, shared vision

between the key stakeholders and

IT. Take everyone with you,

develop a shared agenda.

Collaborate

Build confidence in the change

– allocate time and resources for

user testing and training.

Provide visible and active post

rollout support. Get feedback, fix

problems, and keep

communication channels open.

Build Confidence

Focus on the three key tactics for success when implementing change:

IMaaS is as much about IT staffing as it is about choosing

the right platforms• Start by determining how similar the key intra- and inter-

departmental information movement patterns are across key IT

platforms.

• Start with SERVICE issue; “Salesforce isn’t working” may be

the equivalent of “I can’t find the customer ID” to users. The

Application support team and Service desk team need to

work in concert.

• IT Asset Management and Capacity planning are they the

necessary skills for technical success.

• Communicate, Communicate, Communicate. Every aspect of

any “aaS” is about clear lines of communication between

support and users.

Thank youHave questions or want a copy of the presentation:

Email me: chrisw@thinkdox.com

Don’t want to email me:

See our websites presentation page

http://thinkdox.com/news/white-papers-and-presentations/

We are on twitter and LinkedIn

@Thinkdox

@ChrisW_thinkdox

ThinDox LLC.

Provide a single strategy to manage information

ThinDox LLC.

A single value

focused governance

plan

Physical Records

Documents

Records

Databases

Putting a value on

information not artifacts

Reducing risk through

process

Reducing mundane tasks

Multiple service offerings

ThinDox LLC.

Workshops Clinics Consulting/Teaching

Provides peer support and

specific information

management training through

problem solving.

These are designed to be both

networking events and skills

development.

Typically industry focused on

process or technology

Provides planning advice,

recommendations and

technology review customized

to you.

Private, focused problem

solving engagement.

Designed to provide a plan for

solving a problem as well as the

processes for development.

Provides project management

and an extra pair of hands to

get past issues when you have

momentum.

Long term, traditional

professional services.

Take full advantage of your software's strong suits

ThinDox LLC.

Automated

Optimized

Simplified

Keep up with the

users

Re-evaluate the technology

Review the schedules and

alignment with regulations

Expand the connections

between information

sources.