Straddling Two Worlds
Paper and Electronic Processes Are At An Impasse

“One of the decision factors, among many, surrounding paper capture is risk,” added Theresa. “If we’re trying to aggregate everything into electronic form, how much physical stuff we want to keep? And why? Many people are using software packages of different types to create custom communications electronically on a one-to-one basis, whether it’s with a customer or a partner or a vendor. These communications are the exceptions from the average day-to-day business communications (such as statements, etc.) By adopting these software tools, you’re empowering an army of people who can create these customer communications.

“Currently it’s on a case-by-case basis; for some companies, if they determine there is very little risk involved in business-as-usual, they’ll probably remain with the good old programmatic way of communicating. Other folks are really looking for a distinct cultural change... they feel the need to be faster/better/stronger to differentiate themselves from the competition. Plus they recognize that by closing a mortgage 50% faster, they are able to close more business and increase the bottom line.”

In her article in this white paper, EMC’s Karin Ondricek points out: “An information-advantaged company will use information in ways its competitors do not. Companies seeking an information advantage should capture data from documents using advanced recognition and classification techniques and pass it to a case management system which automates processes and improves human efficiency. Doing so can ensure that a 360° view of the customer is created, that decisions are data- rather than anecdote-driven and that operational processes are as efficient and as error free as possible.”

In a similar theme in his article, Erin McCart, product marketing manager for ASG, aligns the business imperative with the technology support mechanisms: “Businesses need to align their business strategies with technology in a holistic fashion,” Erin writes. “The core of any enterprise is the processes that drive day-to-day operations. Organizations must keep in mind that workflow technology is an enabler. Sound BPM and ECM methodologies, analyses and understanding must be applied first. Only then will enterprise content management workflow capabilities bring agility to the business, flexibility to changing market demands and the ability to manage information to create business success.”

This is the essence of what Theresa is talking about: using technology to its greatest advantage, while also empowering the human element to the greatest degree possible. The thing we’ve learned over the years is that those two goals are not mutually exclusive. Quite to the opposite, they are complementary.

The Risk Factor
“Here’s a concern I have,” said Theresa. “What if things go dark? In healthcare there’s a term for it: ‘downtime reporting.’ What do you do if you rely on patient records and things go down? What backup plans are in place to continue that care? And no contingency plan covers a catastrophic event—a hurricane or something like that. A healthcare information system (HIS) might have backup generators and so on, but those have a finite lifespan. What do you do then? Have you printed things out so that you have that hard-copy backup just in case? We have in only the last 15 years gone from being highly paper-centric to more on the side of electronic, and some of these risks haven’t been fully solved,” she said.

It might be an unavoidable risk. Generational pressures, rapidly advancing technologies and the age-old business pressure to “do more with less” may drive the NEXT revolution from its current hybrid state of “part-paper/part electronic” to the ultimate conclusion.

“There are processes that simply are too large and too fast to be done with paper,” insisted Theresa. “There are also changing generational attitudes. The Gen Y workforce can’t conceive of paper. It comes to a point where it’s intuitive for things to be electronically based... they don’t know what to do with paper.”

The subject of risk naturally leads to the subject of risk management. And that leads to records management, and the overpowering effect that electronic records is having on that role in the organization. I kind of suggested to Theresa that the records manager—that traditional organizational role of yore—might be feeling a little schizophrenic in this crossover era between paper documents and electronic communications we’ve been talking about.

“We talk a lot with customers, analysts and thought leaders about just this: what is the next turn for records management? And the thing we’re surprised about is the vacuum of leadership for records management. That void is contributing to the schizophrenia you described,” she said. “In every corporation there’s the C-level—CEO, CIO, CTO, etc.—and then maybe a layer of vice presidents. But there are no records managers within sight of those levels. Records management doesn’t get the same level of credibility, or importance or emphasis in an organization’s structure. It doesn’t seem to have its own distinction, or to be recognized as a critical component to the overall success of the enterprise. Right now, RM is the sort of the redheaded stepchild. Forgotten.”

Ouch. But Theresa defends the RM stepchild nonetheless. “Having that vacuum at the top levels of the enterprise, for something that has the potential to be as great a risk as records, is a really dangerous position for organizations to place themselves in,” she insisted. “I understand there are plenty of things competing for attention—cost, the economy, the survival of the business—to cause this vacuum. But I wonder: what will be the tipping point? What will be the single thing, or the aggregate of things, that will be of sufficient visibility or impact that will prompt a sea change in oversight of records within an organization? What will push things over the edge to create a consistent consolidated plan of attack? What are we going to do with all the things in our filing cabinets? Are we going to continue to produce paper? If so, what will we do with all those mass-produced items (statements, etc)? How do we aggregate it all? Do we have a policy for that?”

Whew. Theresa makes a strong argument or two. I don’t disagree with her at all. In fact, I think risk management in an increasingly electronic and mobile age will eventually become a serious business subject. And the stepchild might just get a seat at the table.

I’ll be perfectly honest: This white paper you’re about to read may not meet the issue of document capture and paper-based processes exactly head-on. But that’s where a lot of people are today; transitioning between generations, between technologies and between traditions... the old one and the new one yet to come.

I’d read it with that in mind, if I were you.