Partner Article

Information management: from 2016 to 2017

Julian Cook, Director of UK Business, M-Files

The continued explosion of digital content, the mainstreaming of ‘millennials’ within the working environment and the emergence of the extended enterprise are among the key trends driving a seismic change in the way organisations manage documents and other information. As we look back on this year and ahead to 2017, we only expect these challenges to intensify:

Bringing Shadow IT into the light in 2016

2016 was a year marked by the struggle to eliminate “shadow IT” practices, with business users gravitating towards using their personal and unauthorised file share and sync platforms. Often, these tools are more accessible and easier to use compared to those provided by their company. The challenge however, is that these file

sharing solutions often lack the robust functionality found in enterprise content management (ECM) solutions required to meet demanding security, version control, workflow and compliance requirements for many enterprises.

The good news is that enterprise-class ECM solutions have emerged with the ease of use, transparency and collaboration benefits of file sharing and sync solutions. These systems enable employees to easily share information and collaborate with external partners, while organizations can ensure they retain control over their information assets

Can Content chaos be conquered in 2017?

Unfortunately, many organisations will continue to rely on an antiquated file folder-based approaches for storing and managing documents in 2017, which will result in the proliferation of information silos and create an even more chaotic information management environment.

On the bright side, with the “mainstreaming of metadata,” solutions with powerful metadata-based architectures and capabilities have proliferated as more organisations realise how they drastically improve their ability to search, retrieve, process and archive information, which in turn improves productivity, enhances employee collaboration and accelerates decision making processes.

Mobile-friendly information management platforms will become more en-vogue in 2017 because they give employees the freedom and flexibility of anytime, anywhere access to corporate resources. Simultaneously, they provide the workflow capabilities and access control systems necessary to support and enhance demanding information management environments, such as companies that have demanding regulatory requirements.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by P. M. .