Enterprise Content Management

The Latest

22 March 2022: Knowledge management application software developer Objective Corporation (Objective) has acquired US Cloud-based content management system firm Simflofy. With the acquisition, Objective’s governance extends beyond a focus on regulated and public sectors to accommodate organisations struggling to govern Microsoft365 suite. Through a combined enterprise federated governance and single source of truth (SSOT), users can expect the features of the integration to be introduced in its newest tool, Objective 3Sixty.

Why it’s Important

The Australian public sector’s content management solution vendors are dominated by Micro Focus Content Manager (formerly known as TRIM) and Objective. However, both solutions providers lack the technology to fully address the demand for federated knowledge management due to the effect of disruptive collaboration, and the adoption of Microsoft Office 365 by many enterprises. 

However, the acquisition of Simflofy will be a game changer for Objective.” to avoid it seeming like Simflofy has acquired Objective. The integration of Simpflofy’s federated information management capabilities to Objective’s strength in knowledge management in compliance rich environments, has the potential to balance a unified view of organisation wide content from disparate sources of information, with rigorous information lifecycle management.

At the very least, the acquisition signals that Objective is now committed to federated knowledge management, instead of the traditional record-keeping system that it is known for.

Who’s impacted

• CMO
• Sales/marketing teams

What’s Next?

Objective customers should monitor the vendor’s progress with Objective 3Sixty’s features such as SSOT through consolidating various sources across multiple information repositories and managing it all in one place.

In addition, public sector organisations that use Objective as well as SharePoint without appropriate governance and compliance add-on solutions (such as RecordPoint’s Records365), should start exploring how the new Objective plans and acquisition may impact discussions on where and how knowledge is stored in a compliant manner.

Likewise, Micro Focus Content Manager’s customers must raise inquiries to the vendor on the progress of the service provider’s plans for filling in the gaps of federated content management capabilities for Content Manager, in particular Control Point. 

Related IBRS Advisory

1. The Challenge of Disruptive Collaboration and the Future of Enterprise Knowledge Management Solutions
2. Does IBRS have a framework which describes the capabilities of Knowledge Management?

The Latest

27 January 2021:  M-Files, which provides a document and content management solution, has raised US$80 to develop an AI to analyse, categorise and manage enterprise information. 

Why it’s Important

There are two forces driving the destruction of traditional electronic documents and records management (EDRMS) solutions: 

• collaboration, which breaks legacy information lifecycles, and
• the explosion of information types and stores, which hinders the ability to have a single repository of digital records

When combined, it becomes clear that legacy EDRMS solutions are not only incapable of providing the flexibility needed to manage enterprise information is a way that enables new ways of working, but also cannot address the ‘mess’ (really, complexity) of these work practices.

Leading EDRMS vendors are looking to leverage AI to address this ‘mess’ by:

• analysing and automatically applying meta-data / classifications to information
• determining which information policies need to apply to content, and enforcing such policies automatically
• seeking out information across an organisation for the purposes of applying information lifecycle policies, e-discovery and security. 

By investing in AI, M-Files is ensuring it remains relevant and able to compete in the future of enterprise content management. 

Who’s impacted

• CIO
• Information Managers

What’s Next?

While legacy products such as TRIM (now Micro Focus Content Manager) remain in place and are being supplemented by add-on solutions (eg. Micro Focus Control Point), the future will be products with AI taking centre stage within the core information management functionality. 

Organisations considering their future information management strategies must factor the disruptive impact of collaboration, including the Office 365 platform, and the ever growing amount, variety and location of information. EDRMS solutions that feature AI as a core component should be short-listed.

Related IBRS Advisory

1. Disruptive Collaboration - Whiteboard Session
2. Making work, work better: digitisation, digital workflow, & the new normal
3. Teams Governance: Emerging better practices
4. Planning your next generation Office Suite? Consider Records Management
5. Records management discipline must not be ignored during digital transformation

Conclusion:

Disruptive collaboration is the term IBRS uses to describe the impact collaboration tools have on processes, knowledge management, and organisational structures. Over the last two years, most staff members have become familiar with collaborative solutions, such as Microsoft Teams. There is no going back.

As a result, many organisations are beginning to discover how outmoded their enterprise knowledge and records management solutions are. We are in the midst of a tectonic shift away from the traditional paper metaphor of business, to a digitally native, collaborative business model. Organisations must be prepared for the coming generation of knowledge management solutions that address this new collaborative business model.