There's valuable content in those emails, documents, correspondents, statements, videos and blogs. The key is to find it, make it accessible, and share it.
By rethinking the strategic role of content, businesses can harness all this data, better connect people to key information, and analyze content to make better business decisions and reduce risk. Why the need? There are three key shifts today driving the need for a "strategic" view of content management.
Big Data: It's here to stay. We're creating 2.5 quintillion bytes of data every day from virtually everywhere--social media, emails, online videos, energy grids, online purchases, mobile GPS signals, and more. On the one hand, this explosive growth is enabling enhanced collaboration, productivity and innovation. On the other hand, it dramatically increases IT costs and risk exposure. A recent IBM study showed that an estimated 50 percent of organizational content carries risk, without delivering any measurable business value. Organizations today are increasingly tasked with managing this wealth of structured and unstructured data, while at the same time keeping a keen eye on value and exposure.
New Technologies: A recent AIIM study showed that 60 percent of companies surveyed believe that content chaos is out of hand and needs to be controlled. But the wealth of big data is also an opportunity to unlock the insight that lives in that data to increase business agility and answer previously unanswerable questions. Now the good news -- new technological innovation is enabling organizations to improve business outcomes by applying analytics to gain actionable insight. At the same time, other new technologies are enabling businesses to proactively dispose of unwanted, unnecessary content effectively.
Lack of Trusted Info: A recent IBM study found that one in three business leaders frequently make decisions based on information they don't have, or don't trust. Lack of trusted information is forcing line-of-business organizations in companies of all sizes, in virtually every industry, to change the way they view content, and see it as a strategic asset in the context of high-value business solutions that can deliver positive outcomes and real business transformation. And line-of-business is increasingly taking control of content management within organizations.
Forward thinking companies are mitigating that volatility and risk, and in the process transforming the way they do business. They're capturing enterprise data, extracting its value, and turning it into a valuable asset that can provide insight into how optimize supply chains, uncover consumer behavior patterns, and identify traffic and energy patterns. They're putting that content in context, essentially putting it in motion, and using it to solve problems, and make decisions that deliver better outcomes, faster. They're using it to deliver innovative products, superior customer service, all while empowering knowledge workers like never before.
Tejon Ranch, for example, the largest land management company in California, uses an IBM mobile content application that enables iPad users to take advantage of key content and case management capabilities remotely for contracts management, insurance verification, and bond management. With 270,000 square to traverse, Tejon employees now have a mobile solution when they're off-site to access key information and collaborate across the organization.
By turning passive content repositories into active sources of business insight and gaining control of information, companies today can optimize their business and reduce costs -- maximizing productivity, increasing competitiveness and being more prepared for the unexpected.