Seven Reasons ECM is Good for Government

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When times get tough and revenue dwindles, private companies have options: expand into other products and services to increase revenues, discontinue certain lines of business to reduce costs, or make the hard decision to dissolve assets and cease operations.

The public sector has no such range of choices. Reduced revenue and fewer personnel simply mean making do with less – or even doing more with less, as demand for some services increases.

As the belt-tightening continues, government agencies and offices are searching for ways to operate cost-efficiently and simultaneously improve the way they “do business.” Deploying enterprise content management (ECM) technology – which includes document management and imaging – is an initiative that offers benefits for both the short- and long-term.

Here’s a quick overview of how ECM can serve government offices and personnel right now, and lay the foundation for more positive changes in the future.

Seven Reasons ECM is Good for Government

Deploying enterprise content management (ECM) technology – which includes document management and imaging – is an initiative that offers benefits for both the short- and long-term.

Seven R

easons EC

M is G

ood for G

overnment

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Number 1: Improve Constituent Services

ECM allows a government office to capture

documents from multiple sources – e-mail,

fax, e-form or paper – index them to multiple

records, route them into an automated

workflow and make them instantly available to

the individuals or departments that need them.

License applications, accounts payable invoices,

business permits, constituent paperwork and

other documents submitted for approval get

processed more quickly and with fewer

mistakes, shortening processing timelines and

allowing prompt responsiveness to citizens.

With features such as digitized signatures, it’s

easier to manage input from multiple sources

and track the history of revisions to key

documents. This ensures that public

documents placed on web sites, such as

minutes from council and committee meetings,

special proposals and public bid documents,

are approved and up-to-date before they are

publicly posted.

Number 2: Boost Staff Productivity and Morale

Since the recession began, many city, county

and state governments have made changes in

their workforces, including unpaid furloughs,

hiring freezes or even layoffs. ECM technology

allows agencies to make the most of staff

members’ time by automating routine tasks.

Digitized documents are automatically

distributed into a workflow based on your

office or agency business rules. Job allocation

is based on staff members’ work volume, work

schedules and task priority, so unnecessary

delays are avoided. Your staff can quickly

review, approve, sign and update documents.

Applications that are missing key information

are flagged and routed for completion.

When staff members are no longer bogged

down with tedious clerical tasks, they are free

to spend time on more challenging projects.

Service to citizens improves and so does staff

morale, as employees feel confident in their

abilities to handle multiple tasks thoroughly

and efficiently.

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Number 4: Get a quick return on your technology investment with an open ECM solution

As noted in Reason #2, ECM speeds and

simplifies processes because key documents

are instantly accessible, tasks can be distributed

more equitably and agency employees can

complete work faster. But there are two more

ways ECM can help you do more with less

when you choose an open solution.

First, an open system integrates smoothly with

your current software and IT infrastructure,

and lets you deploy ECM quickly and

efficiently throughout your agency.

Second, an open ECM solution allows

employees to become proficient almost

instantly because they’re accessing

documents within the context of familiar

business applications.

Better business processes, easy deployment

and prompt adoption by your staff add

up to a rapid return on your technology

investment in ECM. In fact, many agencies

and departments start seeing a positive ROI

in a matter of months.

Number 3: Consolidate Systems for Easier Administration

Staff and IT budgets have been cut to the

bone, leaving fewer skilled technical

personnel to administer and maintain systems.

To compound the problem, many departments

and agencies have separate, nonintegrated

systems that require time-consuming back-

up procedures.

Deploying an ECM solution that integrates

with existing business applications and creates

a central, secure repository for documents

requires less maintenance. SaaS (software as

a service) is a deployment option that offers

ECM software on a subscription basis

(monthly, quarterly or annually). In addition,

system management and operation can be

contracted and handled in a secure data

center, further stretching IT resources.

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Seven R

easons EC

M is G

ood for G

overnment

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Number 6: Support “Green” Initiatives

The phrase “paperless office” has been in the business lexicon for decades, but not much progress has been made toward achieving that goal. According to RISI, an organization that provides independent economic analysis for the global forest products industry, the amount of paper used in American businesses has finally begun to drop. But in 2009, the average office worker was still using 106 lbs of paper each year.

With ECM, government offices and agencies use less paper, less fuel to move documents around and less storage. ECM greatly reduces environmental impact and is assisting agencies in making the push toward truly going paperless

Number 5: Prepare for the “Brain Drain”

In the next decade, government at all levels will experience substantial employee turnover, as the Baby Boom generation retires. These are long-time employees who know their offices’ processes, the intricacies of their functions and where to find information. When they leave, they’ll take their institutional knowledge with them.

Now is the time to capture what they know by documenting workflows and digitizing paper documents for easy retrieval. The next wave of employees will be younger and more tech-savvy, and they’ll expect their work place to reflect the flexibility of the private sector, offering such as options working remotely.

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Number 7: Ensure Continuity of Operations

Disasters can’t be prevented, but agencies and offices can prepare for them, so the disruption is minimized. The key functionality of ECM technology – creating centralized repositories for key data and documents that can be accessed by the people who use them – is a natural fit for a disaster recovery plan. The tools designed for high availability and disaster recovery can access documents and information captured via an ECM solution. In addition, the data can be exported to several departments for recovery needs – a necessity when dealing daily with vital, unique documents.

With ECM and proper back up provisions, day-to-day functions that your constituents rely on can continue almost without disruption, despite a catastrophe.

When government works more efficiently, everyone benefits. Taken together, these seven key benefits have the potential to boost local economies through cost-efficiency, enhance the business climate and improve the profile of government to citizens. Right now is the time for decision-makers to make value maximization and document management their top priorities, and look to put ECM to work in their everyday processes.

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