So what does ECM integration do for my organisation, anyway?
Digital transformation is no longer a new, revolutionary term. Today, companies transforming themselves are no longer trendsetters – they’re simply doing what they must to survive in a modern, competitive market.
For well over a decade, technology has been touted as the answer to problems – be it cost, time or cooperation. A company that didn’t trust tech was dead in the water.
As with any solution, too much of a good thing can still see progress stall. This is true with the rapid adoption of technology as well. As companies rushed to digitise a new problem arose: massive silos of digitized content, detached from their peers.
Programs were developed and adopted for individual processes – but these programs had no way to talk to each other. The result? Tech-bloated organisations, bursting at the seams with different programs.
Vendors would spend an inordinate amount of time maintaining existing code, leaving little opportunity to work on updates. Technology has solved many of the problems of the past. Alongside this came new problems, however. That’s where Enterprise Content Management (ECM) enters the picture.
What is Enterprise Content Management (ECM) ?
ECM looked to integrate different functions and programs, allowing them to “talk” to each other. This gives users the ability to access and utilise data and actions on all the different systems from a central place.
An easy example of this would be the integration of digital signature software into document management systems. Before, one captured documents digitally but then signed them manually. Integration has allowed companies to do away with wet signatures altogether, saving on paper and time.
However, this is just one example of a plethora of benefits that integrations can bring with a smart ECM tool.
What can ECM integration do for my organisation?
Capture
Capture is one of the of the most fundamental features of records management. Capture integrations allow vendors to digitise documents quickly and efficiently. There are several ways the information created or stored in the organisation can be captured:
- Through Application Programming Interface (APIs), this feature allows capturing of information from other systems in the organisation like the HR document management or the Accounting System.
- By using AIML/OCR/ICR technologies to extract data from digitised documents. This helps in converting hardcopy pages to digital documents
- By digitally collecting information and documents through web forms from customers, employees etc.
- By integrating inputs from sensors for collating and collecting data like production data on an assembly line in manufacturing units.
Integrating a capture provider is faster than developing your own, and there are numerous vendors that offer them.
Records Management
Regulated environments call for extensive records management tools. Most ECM tools in the market today offer basic records management services. Integrations take this a step further, allowing you to expand on the services offered by your ECM tool.
Artificial Intelligence (AI)
AI is commonplace in many organisations today, from the most basic to cutting-edge. Better AI systems tend to be integrated and have access to the data and systems they need to formulate accurate responses. There are a number of vendors and solutions, and the choice of integrating them into your ECM tool should be simple.
Analytics
While reports are commonplace in almost all organisations today, analytics are what give these reports value. They help glean insights from data, allowing management to make changes, or tweak systems in order to optimise results.
Integrate modern analytics tools directly into your ECM system to give people the ability to analyse data and monitor various metrics.
Digital Signatures
Digital-signature solutions have only become more critical as a result of the pandemic. The traditional signature process involved multiple steps, not to mention physical travel. It could often be onerous for both client and vendor.
ECM systems will allow you to integrate digital signatures into your processes – saving on paper and time.
Internal collaboration
Collaboration between teams is vital to the health of any organisation, especially as it grows in size. Companies today can have between tens to hundreds of departments, and thousands of employees working for them.
Predictably, this can lead to issues in communication – which is where collaborative tools come into the picture. Google Chat is the obvious example, but there are many other collaborative tools that can be integrated into your ECM system.
This allows your communication to be “live”, instant and up to date – much like a simple chat window between two employees.
What can Crown’s ECM do?
Crown’s ECM allows businesses to capture, store, organise and deliver critical information to different audiences in an automated way.
This helps businesses reduce both the time and costs of managing documents and ensures compliance with organisational record retention policies.
Our ECM system will enable you to:
Capture documents digitally
An end-to-end solution that allows for the scanning, capture, and importing of content like invoices, job applications, and contracts.
Store and organise documents in a digital library
It isn’t enough to capture documents digitally – storage is equally important. You can view or make edits, check categories, and organise documents within folders.
Retrieve documents, regardless of device or location
Users can quickly find any document via full-text search, specific words, dates, or users.
Automate document processes
Digitising and automating key business processes will allow you to speed up tasks along a workflow. These include, but are not limited to, recruiting and onboarding new employees, or managing invoices such as accounts payable process transformation.
Secure documents and reduce risk
Enable greater compliance via restricted access to folders, monitored system logins and outs, and full audit trails on document creation. Our ECM solutions keep information secure, even if the same digital repository is being used by other teams or people.
ECM implementation by Crown India
CRM India embarked on the journey to introduce digital solutions in 2017; understanding the pulse of our existing customer base. Launch of document management software followed by introduction of workflow solutions was in response to digital transformation solutions demanded by the market.
We have worked closely with our clients and have improved upon the workflow solutions by infusing Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) in the process. Some of the most well-known organisations in India have benefitted from our solutions. We have implemented the enterprise-wide digitisation in Hikal, HR document management solutions in Indian Oil, Perfetti and IKEA, Account Payable workflows in BioStadt, Conde Nast and Carlsberg. Read more about our ECM implementation in the case studies section of our website.
ECM in a nutshell
ECM allows organisations to manage their documents, collaborate effectively and make decisions faster.
ECM clearly has an edge over traditional paper management methods and organisations that make the switch faster can enhance their competitiveness in the market and take their business to greater heights.
To know more about our ECM and other information management solutions, speak to our consultants at +91 8882 330 330 or write to us at sales.in@crownrms.com
