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Combining business processes with content management

The benefits of digital transformation can be keenly felt by bringing together effective business processes with an intelligent content management system.

Johannesburg, 16 Sep 2021
Nash Naidoo, Senior Manager: Software and Professional Services, Altron Document Solutions.
Nash Naidoo, Senior Manager: Software and Professional Services, Altron Document Solutions.

Although we live firmly in the digital era, there is no doubt that paper-based functions remain crucial to business operations.

After all, when one thinks of information packs created for a company board meeting, the image is inevitably of a binder with various documents for each director to read through, before their board meeting.

With the exponential growth of data, businesses have become reliant on the efficient flow of information and documents, and continually add and refine processes to meet demands. This includes policies and procedures, as well as regulations and laws that govern and audit how we capture, store, and disseminate various types of information.

Nash Naidoo, senior manager for Software and Professional Services at Altron Document Solutions, points out that whether such information is paper-based or digital, people have realised how much value and meaning is held in documents.

“This is even more so in the case when Big Data processes and analytics are applied to such data – when you are able to analyse it in a meaningful way, you derive much more value from that particular information,” he says.

“Moreover, when an enterprise moves towards bringing its business workflows and content management together, the access, collaboration, security and lifecycle management of the content becomes easier and more cost-effective. A good example here would be putting in place restrictions around printing, e-mailing and viewing of the data.”

At the same time, continues Naidoo, intelligent layers can identify and highlight key aspects in documents and other content files, as well as provide translation functionality and assess what type of data the file contains - such as legal, financial or intellectual property. These same intelligent layers provide in-depth search functionality across content in the repository, and give greater oversight and control over organisational content.

“So, although content management tools can simply be used as a storage mechanism, the organisations that fully utilise the intelligent aspects of these tools are able to enjoy vital time and costs savings.Other benefits include compliance to information protection laws such as POPIA, wherein non-adherence can result in substantial damage to the company. This impact may be felt on the brand’s reputation, in customer dissatisfaction or even in actual legal sanctions.

“Of course, security goes hand-in-hand with compliance. Anything we value, we make a point of securing, and the same applies to the various forms of information and content we use in business,” adds Naidoo.

Security must be implemented in layers, he continues, using the example of a person entering a business property. Here there may be a boom gate, security personnel, a CCTV camera, and a credentials check before you are allowed in. Then you may be asked to park only in a certain zone, after which you face additional security protocols to get into the building.

“In the same manner, a company’s IT infrastructure requires various layers of security, with the content management system’s own security being one part of many other layers of security that encompass the network, the servers and user access devices.”

Thanks to advanced analytics, management can now understand what type of content is accessed most often in the organisation, he notes. They can also determine metrics like the amount of time staff interact with such content, understand the flow of information through the business and be aware of what type of information flows through the enterprise, with what frequency and between whom this information flows. Over time, trend analysis can give insight into predictive and even pre-emptive actions that can be undertaken.

“Of course, to ensure an effective implementation of this nature, you need a partner that can call upon a vast array of ICT services. These range from expert managed services, to digital transformation, and should cover security, specialised vendor services and even custom development across almost any type of software and development language a customer may require,” concludes Naidoo. 

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