Business Model - Business Goals, Problems, and ECM Vision Statement

Most of the times, Business Problems and Need for ECM system are well identified prior to making the decision of investing in ECM system. Once the software and services are acquired, it is easy for the ECM team to get onto fast track mode. Before you get your hands on the detailed aspects of ECM implementation, it is always a good idea to define:

• Business Goals
• Business Problems
• ECM Vision Statement

Well run businesses normally have well-stated Business Goals in place. Take some time to see how your ECM implementation can align well to your Business Goals. Develop a list of Business Problems that can be addressed with ECM implementation. Here are some examples of Business Goals and Business Problems.

1. Business Goals

'Move Forward' vision and goals will help ensure that our company is solidly positioned in the next decade to continue its mission of developing, manufacturing, and commercializing products for customers. We have the following business goals:

• Bring at least 3 major new products onto the market
• Become the number one U.S. company in sales
• Achieve revenue of $100 billion

2. Business Problems

• Need Repository for Key Documents. Today, we don't have a central document repository where people can find or search for key business documents. We are not capitalizing on our information assets.
• Fill in the Gaps that Current Information Management Systems have. Today, the websites have too many broken links. The contents captured on the websites are not always up-to-date.
• Need Standardization in our Business Processes. We need to develop standardized procedures and processes that will enhance the efficiency and productivity of the business operation.

Create a separate document that captures your ECM Vision Statement. Use this Vision Statement to communicate with the management and the ECM team. Many ECM teams sometimes feel overwhelmed by the broad spectrum of ECM (Document Management, Web Content Management, Document Lifecycle Management, Enterprise Application Integration, Portals, Collaboration Systems such as Messaging, Web Meetings, and Rich Media). Having clear ECM Vision Statement will allow you to develop a high-level ECM Roadmap that captures the priority of various ECM deployment aspects. The management and ECM team will be able to make decisions on where to invest the resources next with the understanding of where they are in the roadmap. Following is an example of ECM Vision Statement.

ECM Vision Statement

Provide 21 CFR Part 11 Compliant ECM Platform that allows for Higher Efficiency and Greater Productivity.

Our vision is to build an ECM Platform that will provide or support the following:

• Regulatory Compliance
• Streamlined Business Process
• Document Management Platform
• Collaboration Platform

  ¶ 11/24/2006